


Lokvogels

by The_Cable_Guy



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Art by Caleb Crow, Art by Cutieblueberry, Art by Cyanne, Art by Tams, Artist Cameo, BS Science, Bit of angst in Chapter 6, Bumped up rating for action scenes, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Implied torture in Chapter 6, Major Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-02-11 02:09:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 57,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12925080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Cable_Guy/pseuds/The_Cable_Guy
Summary: Fareeha and Angela are sent on a special mission to Amsterdam by Winston to a strange ex-Overwatch member but as they arrive this person is not who they thought. Meeting him gives Fareeha more insight on her girlfriends history and might start a chain of events that might change the world they know but thanks to him, they will meet new and even surprising people and get to know their different side.





	1. Chapter One: A Special Mission

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Bonbonbourbon for helping me getting started, test reading, and being the one who inspired me to start myself.
> 
> Note on the title: Lokvogels is Dutch for Decoy Birds.
> 
> I recommend reading [Bonbonbourbon's](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8012953/chapters/18343774) fic [The Doctor and The Guard](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12302223) because some of the characters from there make appearances in here too

Angela is working in her lab on a special version of her Cadeuceus staff. She is trying to crack a power problem she is facing for a while now. Every time she starts the internal systems the CPU shorts out and the biotic systems refuse to work.

She screams out of frustration after the 12th smoke plume. Mcree who was passing by hears this through the door and knocks.

“Not now” Grumbles Angela frustrated.

“It looks like you’re having some problems, can I come in? Maybe I can help” he asks friendly.

“Ugh, fine come in,” Angela replies and unlocks the door. As soon as Mcree walks in he smells the burned electronics and sees Angela in a frustrated state.

“Angela, you need to slow down a bit, take a walk. Bastion is apparently quite good with gardening ever since Torbjörn took them along”

“I know Jesse, it's just frustrating that this project is not working out like I wanted. I keep having problems and it drives me insane as you might have noticed.”

“I have noticed that. Now let’s go to the garden and relax for a bit. Maybe after that, you will get some ideas to solve these issues.”

Angela puts her hair back into her iconic ponytail and picks up her coat. Jesse waits for her in the doorway and they leave to the garden in the back of the watchpoint where Bastion is tending to the flowers while Ganymede flies to Angela and Jesse to greet them.

Bastion notices them both and makes excited sounding noises.

“Bastion seems to be happy to see us.” Says Angela responding to Bastion’s racket.

“Heh yeah, they seem happy here. I see a nice bench to sit down, follow me.” Says Jesse and they sit down on a bench overlooking the main courtyard where other birds are making a lot of commotion in a tree in the middle.

“Those birds sure make a lot of noise, Is it mating season already?” Angela asks Jesse while looking at the birds flying up from the tree.

“Well it IS May after all so they are probably trying to attract a mate” Jesse responds “Something my two favourite birds do not need to do anymore,” he says while winking to Angela turning her beet red.

“Jesse! Stop calling me a bird!” Angela exclaims “Just because both me and Fareeha fly does not mean you can call us birds.”

Jesse does not respond with anything except with a grin from ear to ear.

All of a sudden they hear Athena call from the speakers mounted on the outside of the building

“Sorry to interrupt but Winston has requested both Captain Amari and Doctor Ziegler to meet him in his lab as soon as possible. He wants to speak to you both because a special mission has come up.”

“I wonder what that mission is since it is only for me and Fareeha,” says Angela while picking up her lab coat.

“I have no damn clue what that ape is planning with you two, but better head over there,” Jesse replies.

“Jesse! You know Winston does not like it that you call him that!” Angela admonishes while walking to the door to the Watchpoint building, leaving Jesse all alone in the gardens.

He chuckles and then takes a long draw of his cigar. Jesse lets out a satisfied hum.

For an ape, Winston had good taste in cigars.

With nothing to do, Jesse lays down on the bench, pulls his hat over his eyes and simply relaxes to the sound of birds chirping in the background.

* * *

Fareeha was doing endurance exercise with Lena on the new treadmills they managed to buy in town.

After doing the initial testing they both were satisfied with the results of their purchase and called it quits for this part of their training.

“Hey Lena, why aren’t you wearing your chronal accelerator?” Fareeha asks.

“Oh, that is because Winston made a special one in this building so I can walk around without that bulky thing strapped to my chest. Gives me more freedom and saves me my back while doing basic training. It also prevents me from cheating on the endurance tests we do remember?” Lena responds with a giggle.

“Yeah ok. I get it.”

“I’m going to get my water bottle refilled. Do you want me to fill yours too?” Fareeha asks Lena while wiping the sweat from her face with a towel.

“Sure! I could use a refill. Thanks, luv!” Lena chirps.

While walking to the water cooler Fareeha notices the racket the birds are making in the tree outside the gym they are in.

“Those birds sure are making a lot of noise,” Fareeha says while refilling both their water bottles

“They are trying to attract a mate, luv. Something you don’t have to worry about” Lena remarks with a grin while standing in the doorway.

“You can say that, yes…” Fareeha says softly while hiding her red face. “But why are you comparing me and Angela with birds?”

“You haven’t noticed yet luv? You are the only ones literally flying through the air, both your suits have wings. Yours resembles more of a bird of prey while Angela designed her new suit to be damn close to an angel…”

“That is true, but it is still a bit weird to call us birds”

“Eh, it works for you both and we all do it. Jesse started with it actually so go complain with him if you have any objections”

Fareeha does not say anything except a grumble and then she hands Lena her bottle back. They continue with their training until Athena calls out through the music they were playing from the speakers in the ceiling.

“Sorry to interrupt but Winston has requested both Captain Amari and Doctor Ziegler to meet him in his lab as soon as possible. He wants to speak to you both because a special mission has come up.”

“I wonder what Winston wants with you birds,” Lena says while wiggling her eyebrows.

“Lena! Please don’t do that! It's probably something that requires our attention nothing more.” Fareeha counters, though she cannot lie that she is a little confused. “I better go take a shower first though since I smell all sweaty.”

 

* * *

 

Angela makes her way to Winston’s lab where he is sitting behind his desk on an audio conversation while wearing headphones.

“Yes, I have called them to me and will explain it to them shortly. I have received the documents you sent me and I am downloading them as we speak. Yes… I understand… What do you mean no flying?... Ah, I understand. That damn act is still being enforced there? Ok. I think we might have an alternate way of transportation but that will take them more time to get to you. Not a problem? Ok good! Well good speaking with you! Yeah, it has been a while. Ok got to go. They are here now and they probably want to know what is happening. Ok Bye.”

“Who was that Winston?” Fareeha asks while walking to her chair in the meeting room next to Winston's lab.

“That was the one asking for our, well YOUR, help,” Winston explains while straightening his glasses and peeling a banana. “He asked for our help with a very serious matter.” Winston continued but with a more serious tone in his voice.

“But let me start at the beginning. As you might know, Talon is targeting former Overwatch members and eliminating them one by one. Reaper already hit Liao and another who has not been identified yet.” Winston explains while chewing on his banana. “We suspect they are going to hit our ‘Client’ next”

“Then why do you ask us to protect him?” Angela asks Winston while looking at Fareeha “I am not a fighter and Fareeha can’t do it on her own, I know she has experience fighting Reaper but that was with backup of her team at HSI not on her own.”

“He did not explain very thoroughly but he is an ex Overwatch member and I trust him.”

“Ok so if we’re going to do this mission, how long will it take and where is the location?” Fareeha asks annoyed by the long explanations of Winston “And still why only us two? Reinhardt has more experience protecting people.”

“That is very simple Fareeha, you two are our most experienced with going under the radar and acting like ‘normal’ civilians.” Winston answers “You Fareeha have been unnoticed because of your work for HSI and Angela has her alias, which not even I knew existed. This makes you two most suited for this mission.”

“Ok now I understand,” Angela says less confused now. “but where are we going and how?” Angela less confused now.

“Amsterdam.”

“AMSTERDAM?” They both ask at the same time.

“Yes, Amsterdam. He is an important nuclear physicist who has been responsible for repairing the European power grid. If Talon would get their hands on his technology they can bring us all back to the stone age.”

“But who is this person we are supposed to protect and how are we getting there without flying?” Fareeha asked.

“THAT SECOND QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED BY ME! LIEUTENANT REINHARDT WILHELM!” Reinhardt exclaims over the speakers mounted in the ceiling of the meeting room “I REQUEST YOUR PRESENCE IN THE LOADING AREA DOWNSTAIRS IMMEDIATELY!!”

“What the fuck is Reinhardt so excited about?” Fareeha asks Angela with a confused face.

Angela just lifts her shoulders. She didn’t know what was going on either.

The three make their way down to the loading area where they meet the others. Both Lena and Mcree are looking puzzled at the massive curtain that has been hung on the steel beams above the doors where Reinhardt is standing with a full three-piece suit.

“AH! I see you all are here to see our solution to Fareeha and Angela’s problem!” Reinhardt starts “Me, Winston, Brigitte and Torbjörn have been working on something that might aid you two in this mission.”

They all look at Reinhardt and each other in befuddlement except Winston who is in the back with a huge grin on his face knowing what is about to happen.

“TORBJÖRN! IS IT READY!?” Reinhardt shouts to behind the curtains.

“Hell yes, Reinhardt it is READY TO BE FIRED UP!” Torbjörn exclaims from behind the curtain.

“Brigitte! Are you ready?” 

“Yes, I am ready Reinhardt! Let's do this!”

“ALRIGHT! FIRE IT UP!”

All of a sudden they hear a strange loud rumbling noise from behind the curtain as if someone was revving a motorbike from the start of the century. With this noise, Fareeha immediately starts sweating and her eyes become larger.

“I know that sound… It can’t be! No, it can’t!” Fareeha stammers “It has been destroyed in a raid!”

“Oh hell yeah it is what you think it is!” Reinhardt roars.

“Torbjörn! Bring her in!”

The curtain opens up and it reveals Torbjörn in a biker outfit (his Chopper skin) on a blue and white motorbike. Revving it up and driving it to the baffled crew members with Brigitte on the back seat wearing a similar biker outfit.

“THIS IS YOUR OWN BIKE FAREEHA!” Reinhard roars.

“It cant be! She was destroyed during an Omnic attack on Cairo! How?!”

Torbjörn parked the bike in front of the baffled soldier and shut down the engine stopping the racket the bike made.

“I can explain that Fareeha” Brigitte starts “Yes, the bike was in pieces because of that OR14 which crushed it but it was not beyond saving.”

“But how did you get it in the first place?” Fareeha asks her “HSI stored it in the evidence lockup before I could repair it!”

“Well, I can answer that” Torbjörn starts “I had contact with Emirhan Henedi, your superior officer of HSI, and he tried his best to get the parts out of storage since HSI didn’t do anything with them at all and were not even planning on conducting any investigation on it since the case has been closed a while ago.”

“That sounds like HSI alright” Fareeha confirms “How did you contact Emirhan in the first place?”

“Well, he contacted us” Winston interrupts, “He told me that you had a bike you loved dearly which was destroyed in the attack and HSI still had it in storage and he asked if we could fix it up for you.”

“Sounds like Emirhan.” Fareeha confirms yet again, “But why didn’t he tell me?”

“He did not know the parts were salvaged by HSI until after you joined us.” Winston explained, “When he heard about them he did all he could to get them out of the locker and he contacted me immediately when he got them out.”

Angela smiles at seeing Fareeha so happy, acting like she’s been reunited with an old friend. She quietly imagines Fareeha riding on that blue bike with the wind in her hair. She  feels a bit of heat rising to her face from the thought, so she looks away to the bike. Angela notices the golden Arabic letters on the frame.

 “Liebe, what does the Arabic on the frame mean?” Angela asked Fareeha who immediately walked to the bike to investigate.

“Fuck me, they even got the name right! Zerzura! It has been a while!”

“Zerzura?!” They all asked in unison.

“That is how I named my bike” Fareeha starts to explain

“When I drove her I felt free, bold and more daring. It was a way to relax after a stressful day. My own oasis.” Says Fareeha as she started to explain “Zerzura is a mythical white city in the middle of the egyptian desert. Where travelers and traders would come, rest up, do business and then move on. No one knows this city still exists. It is a bit like Oasis in Iraq.”

“Well, that is a fitting name for a bike of this age Fareeha.”

“How come Torbjörn?”

“Harley Davidson’s factories have been destroyed in the Crisis and they went bust immediately after. This model, the Fatboy was one of the rarer in the days before the Crisis and it’s a miracle you could ride it in these days. Parts were nearly impossible to get and we had to make parts ourselves with schematics Brigitte found in old archives of Harley Davidson.” He explains. “The existence of these parts was a myth by itself.”

“Thankfully the engine was mostly intact. The frame was completely destroyed and the front of the bike was crushed.”

“Hm yes. We all suggest you two take um what was it? Zerzura? Yes, you two take Zerzura to Amsterdam so you can treat it as a road trip.” Winston pipes in hoping to not stall the start of the mission any further.

“But how are we going to drive it safely? I don’t know how to drive a motorcycle and we both don’t have helmets and bike suits.” Angela pointed out.

“That is something I can help with!” A voice from behind them yells.

“Em! What are you doing here?!” Lena asks her girlfriend. “I thought you were on a business trip?”

“I used this ‘business trip’ as an excuse to work in secret, Lena” Emily explains. “We both know you are not good with secrets.”

Lena confirms her statement with how red she immediately turns.

“While I was on a ‘business trip’ I used my tailor skills to make both Angela and Fareeha bike suits each personalised to their mission outfits. I also called some people to make matching helmets which should fit perfectly because every Overwatch agent has been 3D scanned for medical purposes and I used that data to get your helmets made.”

As Emily finished speaking. Brigitte wheels in a clothing rack with two leather bike suits and two helmets.

One blue with gold accents and brown and black wings on the back matching Fareeha’s Raptora suit. The other white with a black corset and back with a white chest piece. Orange to yellow gradients decorated the other suit resembling the Valkyrie suit including pearl white wings on its back with yellow gradient “feather” tips.

Fareeha’s helmet is a matching blue with the suit and a golden visor. Angela’s helmet is white with also a golden visor which transitioned into a golden halo resembling the halo-shaped neural interface of the Valkyrie suit.

“Come on! Try them on! Don’t leave us waiting!” exclaims Lena.

“Yes, maybe it’s a good idea to try on the suits so Emily can see if they fit you properly and if you like them. So if there is anything wrong with them she can fix them faster” Winston points out.

“You can use one of the nearby meeting rooms as changing rooms to try them on” Emily directed them to a door in the back of the hall they were in.

Angela and Fareeha grabbed both their suits and went to their new “changing rooms” to put on the suits.

“These sure are tight!” Fareeha complains, visibly uncomfortable in the tight leather suit.

“I like what I see,” said Angela. while giving Fareeha a kiss on the cheek. “Now I can admire your body while we are outside.”

“Why don’t you try yours on? Mine fits perfectly now that I’ve gotten used to the form. I feel a bit vulnerable in this. I hope I can get used to it.”

“In a moment. Let me take in the view for a few seconds” Said Angela while scanning Fareeha’s athletic body. When she sees Fareeha’s red face she smiles and grabs her own suit and puts it on without worry. She is more used to tight suits since her bodysuit for the Valkyrie suit is also form fitting. Although it is more flexible than the leather of the suit, she must admit.

“They even got my cup size right…” Angela notes “That is a close secret. Fareeha did you have anything to do with it? Only three people know my cup size.”

“Who is that last one. I know the other two but that last one?”

“Someone I hold very very close to me. I will explain later who that is.” Said Angela softly with a hint of longing in her voice.

Knowing not to pry into her girlfriends personal business Fareeha suggesta they leave the changing room, though. Not before admiring the way the suit accented Angela’s angelic body. The suit made her look like an actual angel with the wings on her back. Angela noticed this and they both went beet red.

As they left the room to join the others Lena was the first one to notice them.

“WOW! You two look amazing!” She exclaims.

Emily has a huge smirk on her face for a job well done. “This was all those late hours worth it by a long shot” she thought.

Angela and Fareeha walk hand in hand to the others who were all speechless. Even Reinhardt did not make any noise. Only Lena was zipping around the two in a brown blur looking at each detail of the suits and deeply embarrassing Fareeha and to a lesser extent Angela.

“Lena that’s enough ogling,” Angela says to the energetic Brit. “You're embarrassing us both and especially Fareeha who is not used to this kind of clothing.”

“Aww.” Lena whines “But the details Em stitched in these suits are amazing!”

“Thanks love, but I liked making these suits. It has been a while since I did something with leather.”

“I got some ideas for you and I later” Lena grins and wiggles her eyebrows at Emily. Who in turn turns red-faced matching her hair.

“Ok, the suits fit. Helmets should fit too” Winston remarks, effectively changing the topic. “What about fuel? This is an internal combustion engine if I am correct and this old and dated technology has not been used here in Europe for decades. How are you going to drive it all the way to Amsterdam without fuel?”

“That was one of the challenges we faced while we were working on the bike.” Brigitte explains. “We tried to give it a generalised fusion engine but it was completely silent after that. Both Reinhardt and my father told me that the exhaust noise these things made was iconic and important for the experience.”

“So we asked around the Ironclad Guild. Some of them own bike garages and know their way around these older bikes” Torbjörn says, continueing on where Brigitte had left. “We might be able to set a route for you two through Europe passing Ironclad members who still work on internal combustion engines.”

“We improved the engine’s efficiency so it does not have to refuel as often as it did. Its power did not diminish in any way and the sound did not change either, as you might have heard, Fareeha”

“You are right about the sound. That is Zerzura’s roar alright.”

“Why don’t you take a seat! It is your bike after all” Reinhardt bellowed. “Tell us what you think!”

As she sat down on the supple leather seat she could not contain her happiness or a straight face.

“It is perfect! It feels like Zerzura. But then a little bit better. Like I got her for the first time. Thank you all SO MUCH.” Fareeha says with tears in her eyes. She tries to keep a straight face but emotions take over if like she got back an old friend from the dead.”

“My girlfriend fixes up humans, but you guys fixed Zerzura up like Angela does with us so many times. I love this. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

“Why don’t you fire it up and take her for a spin!” Lena exclaims.

Fareeha’s face turns determined as she turns on the ignition and used the kickstarter. As soon as she kicked the bike roared into life, making her smile again. She had Zerzura back and better than she could ever do herself. After feeling satisfied with its performance she turned off the engine so they would not be standing in that noise and smell of gasoline exhaust fumes.

“But how are we going to ride this with the both of us? The original Fatboy did not have two seats” Fareeha asked the others.

“We searched far and wide and we found a special seat for long distances that can safely hold two persons we added footrests and handlebars for your passenger, Angela in this case, and since she is a bit smaller than you, you both can sit comfortably on the bike for the long trip without having to stop often.” Torbjörn explains.

“We even added hooks and other mounting points for bags Emily and Brigitte made so you can take clothing and equipment with you.” Reinhardt adds.

 “Haha, yeah he had to stop me before I added weapons to the bike” Torbjörn looked at Angela

“And I thank you for that Torbjörn,” said Angela with assuring tone in her voice.

“Come on! Don’t keep us waiting! Get on that bike and let her rip!” Lena was impatient and wanted to see the two hit the road.

“Alright. Ya Amar are you ready?” Fareeha turned to an anxious Angela. Who in turn nods hesitantly. She has never ridden a motorbike before.

Winston opened the large bay doors opening to a sunny May evening on Gibraltar and they both put on their helmets which appeared to fit perfectly. Angela had to put down her hair because the ponytail did not fit in the helmet and they drove off.

And while they drove into the sunset Fareeha felt truly free for the first time in years. All thanks to old and new friends.


	2. Chapter Two: On The Road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vrolijk Kerstfeest iedereen!  
> Merry Christmas everyone!
> 
> This is my christmas present to you guys! Here is a 12521 word monster of a chapter because I love you guys!  
> Published at Christmas but its set in sunny Europe (June) ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Thanks to [Valathe](http://archiveofourown.org/users/valathe/pseuds/valathe) for proofreading this monster!

# Chapter two: On The Road

Emily, Brigitte, Fareeha and Angela were sitting in Emily’s workshop while discussing the inner workings of the suits and the details of the bike. Both Angela and Fareeha have gotten used to the suits and spent a month training in them and Fareeha has been test-driving Zerzura so that Brigitte and Torbjörn could work out the issues that would come up.

“These suits are amazing Brigitte!” Angela starts. “But something tells me these suits are not your ordinary skin tight leather bike suits.”

“That is right Angela.” Emily says while she walked to the board “You see, you two are still on a dangerous mission. While I was working on the outside of the suits, Brigitte worked on making these suits of armour that you would see in those old spy movies from the turn of the millennium.”

She grabs one of the pens and started drawing two outlines that resembled humans. One blue for Fareeha and one orange for Angela.

“Each suit has is completely safe for motorbikes so if you would fall the asphalt will not rip off your skin even at high speeds. They will not protect you against broken bones or bruises, however.”

“But to keep you two safe in other ways these suits are completely waterproof.” Brigitte continues while writing on the board. “Next to waterproof, they are also fireproof due to a special coating of the leather and the wool lining on the inside. My father even suggested adding a couple of layers of Kevlar to protect you two against firearms but we could only fit in a few layers so heavy calibre rifles still pose a threat but they should be able to stop small firearms that the common thug uses.”

While Brigitte spoke Emily started a video where they demonstrated the suits resilience. First, the suits were sprayed with a firehose and the water immediately fell off. Next, some flamethrowers lowered and doused the suits in a hellish fire.

“The fire you see here is no gas fire.” Said Brigitte, while she paused the video “This is a fluorine fire, it is one of the most dangerous forms of fire that can eat through concrete and other stuff that is not supposed to burn like asbestos and bricks.”

Even though the fire raged. The internal temperatures of the suits did not reach dangerous temperatures but still above comfortable levels. Next up two what looked like massive belt sanders lowered and the camera panned to Torbjörn who pressed a couple of buttons on a remote. After he pressed the buttons the machines started up but they did barely damage the suits. Next up the camera panned to Brigitte and Lena armed with pistols which they fired upon the suits but there were no holes to be seen even after close inspection.

“You see you are completely safe in those suits. Of course, we don’t hope you have to face these dangers but it gives us a peace of mind that we have done everything we could to keep you two safe while you are on the road.” Emily finished while powering down the projector. “The suits are fit for swimming but don’t go swimming kilometres in them because they are no dry- or wetsuits.”

“It is amazing what you two fit in these suits while still keeping them not too cumbersome to wear. I love both our suits but I still want to know how you got my cup size?” asks Angela while putting on her glasses.

“Winston supplied us with that information but he refuses to give us his source.” Emily replied. “So I don’t know where he got it from.”

“Ok, then I will have to ask him later when I go over there.”

They leave the meeting room, Brigitte leaves to go to her workshop, Emily is going to her living quarters to do some laundry, Fareeha and Angela leave to the Medbay and to their living quarters to go on with their business.

As they come to Angela’s office they stop at the door and before Fareeha can leave Angela asks her to come in. When they are both in her office she locks the door and asks: “Can you help me with something?”

“Of course ya amar, what is it?” Fareeha asks confused.

“As you already noticed my hair is much longer than it used to be. This is for another alias I am taking on while we are on the way to Amsterdam. France is a country where I am very well-known and if I keep being Angela Ziegler I might jeopardize the mission.”

“Is Veronica Mueller making a comeback?”

“No Veronica is afraid of heights and we have to cross mountain ranges. No Veronica is not going on this trip but Elisabeth Wyss is.”

“So Elisabeth Wyss is a beautiful long haired blonde woman who is not afraid of heights and likes high speeds on a motorbike?”

“Yes, that is correct and I need your help with finishing her appearance. The reason why I grew my hair is that Elisabeth has a long braided ponytail.”

“Ok, I understand but what do you need my help for?” Fareeha asks still confused.

“I want you to help me find a nice braid for the ponytail and I want to go with the style of the braids you have including those golden beads.” Says Angela while blushing. “I just like the idea of having matching hairstyles to enhance the “lovers on a road trip” idea and I like it myself too!”

“Well, I can send Torbjörn some of my older ones so he can make a set of larger ones for you but, we need to measure the circumference of the ponytail with the braid so he can make them the proper size.”

While they work on Angela’s hair they come up with a basic backstory for Elisabeth. She is the head surgeon at the high profile hospital in Bonn, Germany. For the rest, she is kind of knowledgeable on the biotic field and she uses biotics to heal the wounds during surgeries and does not diverge from Angela as of her personality and interests. Winston does not expect any shadowers or other people with bad intentions.

Later at dinner, they come to the topic of their luggage.

“Fareeha?” Angela starts “Are you bringing your guitar with you? That guitar is your second love and I love seeing and hearing you play the guitar.”

“Bringing my guitar being either the acoustic or my electric one will be a burden to us and the mission will be jeopardized since they are too big to carry.” Says Fareeha stern “Next to the size it will also distract us from completing our mission.”

Angela was visibly disappointed but notices that her girlfriend has made her mind up so objecting her opinion on this topic has been useless before so she gives up on the first try.

“Ok, ya amar, the braid is done. I’m going to get a tailors lint from Emily so we can measure the circumference of the tip of this braid.” Says Fareeha while finishing up Angela’s hair “If you just hold it for a second, I will be right back.”

While Fareeha is off to Emily’s Angela walks to the mirror in her office to take a look at her new hairstyle. It reminds her of one of those mythical Valkyries she read about. The braid made her feel kind of Nordic fitting the name of her suit.

“Maybe I’ll keep this for a while.” she murmurs while Fareeha walks in with a tailors lint.

“I’m back, Angela. Let's measure the circumference so we can calculate the size needed for the beads.”

“Hi, I was just admiring your handiwork with my hair. I love it!”

“I also brought a ribbon so we can keep the braid together while Torbjörn is working on the beads.”

“Good idea.” Says Angela while tieing the ribbon around the tip of her ponytail. “Have you thought about your alias yet?”

“Kind of, I think I will be Aya Fakhoury.” Says Fareeha “Just to cover my name just in case.”

“Good point but, I think you can’t be Aya Fakhoury the Security officer of HSI. That will blow your cover.” Angela says while finishing the ribbon around her braid and tying a bow to finish it off.

“I got that figured out too. I just use my knowledge to pose as a prosthetics expert that is travelling with a German surgeon to go to the Amsterdam Medical Centre for a meeting about limb replacement.”

“Sound reasonable. Amsterdam is an important medical research city. I have been there often in my days before Overwatch.” Says Angela remembering the good times.

“Ok, We got aliases, now what?” Fareeha asks Angela raising an eyebrow.

“We need to start packing. Pick and choose our baggage that we are sending afterwards and what we are bringing with us.”

“I just did the laundry so we have fresh clothes. We just need to take few clothes with us because it's just a couple of days driving and our other clothes and equipment are sent over afterwards.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the route Torbjörn set out for us and we even have time to relax in a couple of cities.”

“Well then, let's start packing then.” Says Fareeha rubbing her hands in anticipation for the trip to come.

A week has passed and they made all the preparations with the help of the others at the Watchpoint. Angela and Brigitte prepared her project so she can take it with her on the road. It works just for a short period of time before the power system overheats but it works in emergencies.

Fareeha and Jesse started packing the bags and attaching them to Zerzura while Torbjörn did some final checks and finishing touches.

“Ok, she should be ready to go.” says Torbjörn while wiping his hands with a piece of cloth. “Engine is checked, and double checked. Lights work and the new navigation system is programmed with the route you two need to drive to keep the bike fueled. You should be ready to go.”

“Thanks, Torbjörn. Both me and Angela are eager to hit the road.” Says Fareeha determinedly “Speaking of which, where IS Angela?”

“Right here!” yells a voice behind them.

As they turn around they see Angela in the early morning sun in her bike suit with her hair in a new braid with the golden beads sparkling in the light giving off an angelic aura around her. The others catch them staring but Fareeha is full on ogling. Her hair gave off a platinum glow matching her overall aura.

“W-wow, Angela, you look amazing!” Fareeha stammers “How did you get your hair done like that?” The compliment made Angela’s cheeks turn rosy.

“Well, Emily helped me get this done.” Replied Angela with a flattered chuckle “Elisabeth is a fashionista and looks after her appearance so I got my hair done including accessories.”

“How is everyone coming along with the preparations?” Calls Winston while walking from his office to the loading area. “You’re supposed to depart in 30 minutes.”

“Yes Winston, we are ready to leave.” Says Fareeha while Angela zips up her suit. “Just let me do some preparations.”

“We booked a hotel in Barcelona before we cross the Pyrenees. This part will be dangerous and Fareeha needs to be alert and fresh to drive over those hairpin bends.” Says Angela while she walks over to the bike.

“Yeah, I found a nice hotel in one of my mother’s log books and already made a reservation.” says Fareeha while adding the address to the navigation system on Zerzura.

“Ok, Are you ready to depart now?” Says Winston while he anxiously cleans his glasses.

“Ya amar are you ready?” Asks Fareeha while looking at her girlfriend behind her.

Angela does not say anything but gives a thumbs up.

Fareeha starts the bike and it roars into life. After they say their goodbyes to the others they drive off to the sunrise and toward a new adventure.

As they passed Grenada while driving along Autovía Sierra Nevada-Costa Tropical towards Jaén Angela called Fareeha through the com set in their helmets.

“Liebe, can we stop at the next rest stop? I need to go to the bathroom and I could stretch my legs too.”

“Good idea, there is one with a restaurant in 5 kilometres. We should be there in a few minutes.”

As they drive up to the entrance of the restaurant they see a lot of people walk up to them. People take out their camera’s to take pictures of the bike with both the women on them.

“Thankfully we covered up your tattoo.” Angela notes while smiling at the camera.

“Yeah, it would be a disaster if our cover would’ve been blown by pictures on social media.”

One of the bystanders walks to Fareeha.

“How did you get this old timer in such good shape?!” The man asks with an American accent “The Fatboy has not been in production since 2019!”

“My girlfriend and I spent years restoring this bike. I am a prosthetic engineer and a bike enthusiast in my free time.” Fareeha explained “She is a surgeon but likes to work with fabrics and she fixed this special seat.”

“Interesting! Anyway, I love the bike and how good shape this one is in.” the man exclaims while hovering around Zerzura. “You even named it! Can I ask you what this means?”

“Zerzura. Named after a mythical Egyptian city which was a symbol of freedom.”

“Ah, I see. It is a fitting name to something that symbolises freedom.” Says the man with a nod.

While Fareeha and the American man were talking about the bike Angela relieved herself and brought two coffees from the café.

“Are you two done? I’d like my girlfriend back now so we can enjoy our holiday together.”

“Oh, my apologies. These bikes are really rare and I just love the color scheme of this particular model.”

“That is ok. My girlfriend and I spent a lot of time getting her fixed up.”

As they say goodbye to the man. They drink their coffees. After they cleaned up the mess they made they hit the road again towards Barcelona.

While they are driving along Fareeha can feel Angela enjoying the ride and makes her feel happy and she smiles while she steers Zerzura around a tighter bend near Bailén. They stop a couple of times to stretch their legs and while they are stopped they pose for travellers and tourists with their now unique vehicle and after an uneventful time, they see the Mediterranean sea. They take the exit at Sagunt to visit the port and the beach.

“Fareeha, how long until we arrive at the hotel?” Angela asks while sitting outside a café overlooking the harbour. “I am getting a bit tired.”

“According to the GPS, it will take just under three and a half hours until we reach our hotel.” Fareeha answers while pressing buttons on the satnav of Zerzura. “I just contacted the owner of the hotel and as soon as we arrive we can get into our room and in four hours our dinner will be ready.”

“That is nice to hear!” Angela squeals excitedly “Lets hit the road then. Let's see if we can do the final push in one go.”

They drive the final stretch to Barcelona without any issues or interruptions. As they drive up to the hotel they immediately smell the scents of paella being prepared in the kitchen.  
The hotel is not that crowded. 2 elderly people are sitting quietly in a corner while Angela and Fareeha are walking into the lobby to check in.

 _"Hola, hice una reservacion para Wyss"_ [1] Fareeha says to the desk attendant in Spanish. _"Quiero registrarme para la noche."_ [2]

While Fareeha and the desk attendant were busy handling the reservation Angela occupied herself with unpacking the bike and bringing their baggage inside to be brought to their room.

As they follow the attendant to their rooms they examine the interior of the building. It gives a homey feel and has a warm atmosphere. Their room is simple but effective. It has a queen bed, HoloVid TV, a small kitchen with a stocked fridge and the view over Barcelona is stunning to Angela.

“How do you like our room ya amar?” Fareeha hums while hugging Angela from behind “The view is amazing if nothing else.”

“I like our room but, I am hungry, tired and just want to lie down now.”

“Good idea, dinner should be ready now and then we can watch some TV and go to sleep. We have to get up early so we are in Bordeaux before sundown.” Fareeha noted. “There should be a place to refuel here in Barcelona according to the list Torbjörn gave us.”

They have a calm dinner while discussing the events of today. After they finished their dinner Fareeha is going to refuel Zerzura while Angela is going to take a shower. Later when Angela is showered Fareeha joined her in bed.

“Liebe you reek of sweat.” Angela says while pinching her nose “Please take a shower.”

“Damn, you’re right… sorry about that.” Fareeha responds while walking towards the shower after smelling her armpits. “Give me a few minutes then I’ll join you.”

As Fareeha comes from the bathroom Angela already changed to her nightgown but her hair is still done.

“Ya amar, why is your hair still done? Isn't it a bit difficult to sleep with those beads at the end?”

“Nah, I have gotten used to them and it is a pain to get the braid back in. You should know since you have to help me.” says Angela with a grin. In the meantime, Fareeha has stripped off her bike suit and put on some pyjamas and then settling in the comfortable bed next to Angela. After they spent some time relaxing they both went to sleep. Fareeha set an alarm on her phone so they don’t miss breakfast and they will have more daylight to cross the Pyrenees.

Angela woke up to a horrendous beeping.

“What the fuck is that beeping?” she asks herself confused by the haze of sleep “Liebe, can you turn off your alarm?”

As Angela’s mind cleared up she noticed the bed next to her is abandoned. She figured Fareeha already woke up before the alarm even its just becoming dawn. “One day I will be a morning person like her but not today.” she thinks while she walked to the laundry chute where her and Fareeha’s bike suits were hanging after being cleaned overnight.

“Ok, time for some caffeine!” Angela says to herself while exiting their room and walking towards the restaurant. When she arrives at the restaurant she orders a coffee and sits down at a table to read on her tablet.

After a short while, Fareeha returns from her run and she joins Angela for breakfast bringing some for her too as she noticed that Angela was preoccupied with the journal she was reading.

“Good morning ya amar. Had a good night sleep?” Fareeha greeted Angela as she sat down at Angela’s table. “I know you're not a morning person but you look quite fresh this early in the day.”

“Thanks, Liebe but you REALLY need to change your alarm sound because it scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure you woke up on time since it is quite difficult to do on some mornings.” Says Fareeha with a giggle “Anyway, ready to hit the road? We’re burning daylight and I don’t want to drive during the night and keep Jean waiting.”

“Who is Jean?” asks Angela confused.

“Jean is the Ironclad guild member where we are staying for the night and he is going to fill up Zerzura and give her a check-up.” explains Fareeha. “Torbjörn arranged that for us so we don’t have to find a refuelling station in a city we don’t know.”

“Good call let’s go.” says Angela while standing up. “Let's get our suits on and hit the road.”

After Fareeha paid for their rooms and Angela cleaned their room they leave Barcelona to cross the Pyrenees towards Bordeaux.

All of a sudden just before they leave the city Zerzura’s satnav system reroutes them and shows a message telling them that they have been rerouted because of an avalanche on their route. So they have to avoid the mountains altogether and take a short detour past Narbonne. Near Capendu the silence is broken.

“Fareeha!” Exclaims Angela behind Fareeha “Carcassonne is close by! Let’s go find a café there to rest up!”

“Good idea.” Fareeha agrees “I could use a cup of tea myself.”

As they turn into the city they search for a nice café but as soon as they reach the centre of the city they see some thugs speed away in a car from a tobacco shop in a small street.

“Angela!” Fareeha yells “Call the police while I chase these guys! Hold on tight!”

As soon as she pulls the throttle Zerzura’s engine roars into life and the chase is on. While Fareeha is keeping up to the thieves Angela is relaying their position to the gendarmerie.

“Fareeha!! The next roundabout is closed off!” Angela calls out “Can you chase them into that traffic trap?! The police are waiting for them over there!”

Fareeha chases the thieves successfully to the gendarmerie and as soon as they are held the thieves make a run for it but Fareeha jumps off her bike and chases them on foot easily closing the gaps thanks to her training and some of the officers following her shortly. She notices them and goes after the faster thief and catches up with her no problem.

“Shot down.” she says to the thief after jumping after her but the thief gives her a punch in the face and tries to flee. Fareeha grabs the thief’s leg.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Fareeha growls while the thief falls face first on the sidewalk. The gendarmerie officers already captured the other thief. One of them walks over to Fareeha and takes over her “prey”.

“Your presence is requested at the bureau.” Says the officer short “Please come with us.”

As soon as Fareeha and Angela arrive at the bureau they are greeted by a large chubby man who looked like the director of the gendarmerie in this city.

“AH! There is the hero of today!” The man exclaims “It is a great honour to meet you, fine ladies! I invite you to my office so you can tell me all about it and we will walk through the formalities.”

Fareeha and Angela follow the man to his office and they tell him what happened. He writes it all down in a form and he asks them both to fill in their names and to sign this form as a ‘witness report’. Fareeha also signs a form that keeps her from being liable for injuries on the thieves as she did a civilian intervention. After they completed the formalities they left the police station and they follow the directions they were given to a famous café in the city where they could get some free drinks as a thanks for their service.

After they finish their drinks Fareeha goes to relieve herself and Angela grabs their gear and walks toward Zerzura to wait for Fareeha.

“Ok now let’s head to Bordeaux and hopefully no more interruptions.” says Fareeha while walking out of the café “Lets hit the road again and hightail it to Jean.”

They drive to Bordeaux passing Toulouse where they stock up on snacks and drinks at a corner store before they hit the home stretch to Bordeaux. They have dinner at a quaint restaurant because they missed dinner with Jean and his family.

When they hit the city the sun is already setting, Fareeha steers Zerzura off the exit to Jean’s garage. As they drive in Marie, Jean’s wife waves them over to her. Fareeha steers Zerzura to the bridge so Jean can take a look at the state of the bike.

“How is she doing Jean?” Says Fareeha while dismounting the bike “I hope she is in good condition because we had a bit of a chase in Carcassonne.”

“She is in really good condition for what I see in the logs.” Jean notes “You really did really chase those goons over there. You drove 130 km/h in a busy city?! Next time be more careful because repairing this bike is near impossible remember.”

“I’m sorry Jean but I didn’t want to let those thieves get away from Justice™.” Fareeha states proud “But I’ll try to be more careful next time, I promise.”

“Hmph.” grunts Jean while continuing the inspection “Why don’t you follow Marie in the house so she can show you your room where you can stay for the night. It’s getting late.”

“Thank you, Jean.” Angela says appreciatively

“Follow me please ladies.” Gestures Marie friendly.

Marie guides them to the bedroom on the 1st floor of the house. It is a simple room with a bunk bed, a sink and a closet. The beds are already made and some fruit is on the nightstand next to the beds.

“If you give me your suits I will make sure they are clean when you leave tomorrow morning.” Says Marie “Now take some rest and freshen up. The bathroom is just down the hallway. I put some nightgowns in the closet you can use.” She points at the smaller door of the closet.

“Thanks, Marie. You are very kind.” Angela says with a nod. “We kind of needed new sleeping clothes.”

Marie left the couple to their own and Fareeha and Angela stripped out of their sweaty suits. They leave the suits in the designated hamper.

“Why don’t you join me in the shower?” says Angela with a cheeky smile.

The shower is big enough for them both to shower comfortably. After they showered they put on the nightgowns and wished Jean and Marie, who were watching TV downstairs, a good night and thanks for the hospitality.

The next morning they get up just at sunrise but they already find Jean cleaning Zerzura.

“Wow, you’re up early.” Angela yawns “did you even sleep?”

“I don’t need much sleep and I wanted to finish the bike because it’s such a unique one these days.” Says Jean from below the bike. “She should be ready to go now. Tom Bauwens in Brussels has been notified that you two are on your way but you need to find a place to sleep on the road to him.”

“We’ll figure it out when it comes to that.” says Fareeha “That’s part of the adventure of this road trip.”

“Hmph, suit yourself.” grumbles Jean “Anyway, the bike is refueled and ready to hit the road. You need to refuel in Orléans. Here is the address of a place I know there.”

Angela accepts the note and they both thank Jean and Marie for the good care.

“Before you leave, I made you two lunch for on the road and a thermos filled with coffee” Marie hands Angela a bag with the sandwiches and the thermos with coffee.

“You’re too kind.” says Angela thankfully.

“Alright, ya amar” ready to go? It’s a long drive again to Brussels.” Says Fareeha from the back of the garage. “I just got off the phone with Winston and he wants us to meet someone at the European Parliament for some business and over there he will contact us so we can give him a detailed report on the trip so far.”

“Send Lindholm my regards.” Jean says as he shakes their hands “He made some good work of this bike.”

“Will do.” Angela says as she mounts the bike. “We’ll tell him that you said hi.”

As they leave the city they encounter multiple road construction sites but that does not bother them much but they are constantly in awe of their surroundings. Vast valleys, majestic mountains and rolling hills. Especially Angela is visibly enjoying the ride as she doesn’t have to pay attention to the road much. After they passed the 8th construction site Angela calls from behind Fareeha.

“Liebe, I need to go to the bathroom. Can we stop at the next rest stop?”

“Sure, I could use a stretch too.”

They stop just before Tours where they have lunch. The sandwiches Marie gave them are just what they need and apparently Ironclad members like their coffee because even Angela finds it a bit on the strong side.

“We should send Marie and Jean a message thanking them for this delicious coffee and these amazing sandwiches.” Fareeha says as she pulls her phone out of her bag.

“Good idea!” Angela quips as she straightens her sunglasses “Can you ask Jean for the address where he got those coffee beans? His brew is quite amazing and I would love some for my office.”

Fareeha chuckles. “Sure, I’ll ask him to send Winston a bag of those beans.”

“Good idea and this coffee will last us for the rest of the day.”

For the rest of their stop, they sit down at the river "Indre", just listening to the water rushing by and enjoying their company but as soon as Fareeha stands up her sunglasses fall off her nose and one of the glasses shatter on a rock.

“Oh no! My favourite glasses! I had them since I joined HSI!”

“Don’t worry Liebe, We’ll get you a new pair soon but now we need to hit the road if we want to arrive.”

They gather their things, Fareeha collects the broken parts of her aviators looking all sad as if she lost an old friend. After they are satisfied with the state of their picnic spot they hit the road again towards Orléans.

“Fareeha?” Angela asks her girlfriend “Could we go close to the river Loire? I heard its beautiful this time of year.”

“Sure, let's do some small sightseeing.” Fareeha agrees “I’m curious about this river too.”

They exit the freeway at Blois and turn onto Rue d’ Orléans. As soon as they pass Sain-Ay Angela sees something very concerning.

“Fareeha! Look!” Angela points to a car in the water with its hazard lights on. “There is a car in the water! We need to help them!”

“Fucking hell! I see it! Let’s go and see if there are still people inside that car!”

Fareeha steers Zerzura to the car and rushes toward it as she takes off her helmet.

“Angela!” She screams to the back “There are still people inside! Call an ambulance NOW!”

Angela hurries to call the emergency services and also grab the glass hammer from her first aid kit and throws it to Fareeha who immediately smashes the window and pulls out the unconscious man and woman.

She carries them to Angela who is already preparing blankets and towels to dry off and warm the couple. They regain their conscience but they were still shivering and confused who their strange saviours were.

The man tries to speak to them in English but Angela silences him in French.

“Angela.” Fareeha calls from the river. “Can you help me with the trunk of the car? They might have some dry clothes in there.”

  _“_ _As-tu des vêtements secs dans ta voiture?_ _”_ [3] Angela asks the man with an assuring smile.

The man does not say anything but he nods while still shivering and gives her the key. The woman is still unconscious but when Angela checks her core temperature she sees that it was close to normal temperatures she also stopped shivering.

“How are your patients doing, Angela?” Fareeha asks as she brings over the couple’s dry clothes.

“The man is awake and not in shock but the woman is still out and needs medical help soon. She broke her arm in the crash” Angela confirms with a worried frown. “The ambulance should be here soon.”

As soon as Angela finished talking they hear the sirens of an ambulance approaching from the northeast.

 _“_ _Ah! tu es arrivé!_ _”_ [4] Angela greets the paramedics _“Ces personnes ont eu un accident de voiture et la femme a besoin d'une aide médicale rapidement. Elle semble avoir un bras cassé et ils souffrent tous deux hypothermique.”_ [5]

Fareeha watches from a distance how Angela and the paramedics help the French couple in the ambulance.

The man gestures Angela over. He seems to have recovered enough to speak.

Fareeha is too far away to hear what he says to Angela but she sees her nod and accepts a key and a piece of paper.

“What did the man want, ya amar?” Fareeha asks as she walks toward Angela.

“He wants us to wait for them at their B&B. He is worried about their dog.” Says Angela as she walks over to Zerzura. “We are free to help ourselves to their food and drinks and use one of the rooms for the night.”

“That is nice of them!” Fareeha reacts excitedly. “That takes care of a place to sleep and eat for today!”

“Yes, we just need to feed their dog” Angela confirms as the ambulance drives off to the hospital in Orléans. “Let's go and settle in over there. The paramedics told me that they could return home later today to recover further.”

“Who takes care of the car then?” Fareeha frowns “It's not like it will drive away on its own now.”

“The paramedics called a tow truck and we don’t need to worry about that. This car is total-loss and they need to contact their insurance.”

They both gather their things and hit the road. Fareeha enters the address into Zerzura’s navigation system and drives to the B&B.

As they arrive they hear the barking of a dog. Golden retriever Fareeha deduces.

“Wait a second Fareeha.” Angela says before Fareeha can open the door. “Pierre gave me this cloth for the dog. If she smells this she will be more relaxed as she will know we good intentions. It carries his scent.”

“Good to know.” Fareeha replies while opening the door. “Now I don’t have to be worried that I will be mauled by a dog.”

They enter the house and let the dog smell the cloth. She immediately calms down and greets them with a friendly wagging tail. They find a nice room to settle in and Angela starts preparing dinner. Thankfully the fridge and cupboards are well stocked and they settle with a simple pasta and Angela opens a bottle of wine which she fills two glasses with.

“Santé.” she says with a smile “On us, we might have saved these people’s lives and now we have a comfy place to sleep.”

“True that” Fareeha agrees while taking a sip. “Damn this is a good wine. The French always knew their wine.”

“Pierre recommended this wine to me on his note.”

As soon as Angela finished speaking the phone rang making the dog bark. As Angela picks up the phone while shushing the dog she gets Pierre on the phone.

“Ah, Dr Wyss!” He starts in fluent English. “I hope you have found my recommendation acceptable to your tastes! I wanted to tell you and your partner that my wife and I are dismissed from the hospital and are making our way home.”

“Good to hear!” Angela responds exited. “And my partner and I approve your choice of wine. It is very nice. We have already had dinner and your dog is comfortable with us especially with my better half.” Angela looks at Fareeha while she takes a nap on the couch with the dog on her lap who is asleep as well both softly snoring. “They are both asleep on the couch.” says Angela as she looks at them both with a content look on her face.

Fareeha was still asleep on the couch and Angela was reading on her tablet as she hears the lock on the door being opened. Pierre and his wife walked in but she had her arm in a cast. Because of the noise, Fareeha and the dog woke up and the dog immediately jumped up to greet her owners. Pierre greeted his dog and walked towards the women on the couch.

“I see you two have met Lara.” Pierre says with a smile. “I told you she would like you if you let her sniff that cloth.”

He walks to the kitchen where the bottle of wine is still waiting and grabs himself and his wife a glass.

“You ladies want a refill?” He asks while he sits himself down in the chair across Angela. “Let me introduce myself properly this time. My name is Pierre Bernard and this is my wife Ambre. We have been running this bed and breakfast for over 30 years.”

“My name is Elisabeth Wyss and this is my girlfriend and partner Aya Fakhoury. We are on holiday from Morocco to Amsterdam where we will attend a medical convention.”

“You two are taking quite the detour then driving over these roads instead of the freeway” Marie responds while she sits down next to Lara on the couch. “But we are both happy you did because I have no idea what would have happened if you didn’t come across us. According to the paramedics, we were both unconscious.”

“You were completely out.” Fareeha says groggily while waking up from her nap “I had to smash the windows of your car to get to you because the pressure was too great to open it.”

“Yeah, I already contacted our insurance company.” Pierre says with a frown “The damage is covered by our insurance plan which is a relief.”

“I want to thank you two for saving us and feeding Lara.” Marie says brightly “I hope our humble B&B is up to your standards.”

“It is lovely, thank you very much!” Angela replies thankful “But Aya and I are heading to bed now. We are both tired as you might have seen for my partner.”

“Yes, we all could use some sleep.” Pierre yawns.

They all go to bed and the house falls silent. Both couples have a quiet night without any trouble and the following morning Fareeha is the first up as usual. She goes for her morning run and as she returns she sees Pierre in the kitchen preparing breakfast and notices he is limping.

“Um, Pierre?” Fareeha starts “Are you limping?”

“Yes, my prosthetic has been acting up for a while now but I do not have time or money to get it fixed.” He admits.

“Well, I am an expert on prosthetics and my partner is a neural surgeon maybe we can take a look at your leg and see if we can get it fixed?”

“You would do that?” Pierre asks surprised “You two are the greatest people we’ve ever met!”

“Yeah sure. Let me see if Elisabeth is awake yet.” Fareeha notes. “She is NOT a morning person and it is seven in the morning.”

She walks up the stairs to their room and she sees to her surprise that Angela is awake and already dressed.

“Wow, it is seven in the morning and you are already awake and dressed! I am impressed!” Fareeha says with a grin.

“Yeah, Lara woke me up licking my face and I figured I’d get up and get showered anyway.” Angela mumbled. “I love dogs but their explosive enthusiasm sometimes bothers me.”

“Well, I actually wanted to ask you something.” Fareeha starts “You might have noticed Pierre is limping.”

“Yes, I have noticed that.” Angela responds while she ties her hair “I suggest we help him getting that fixed.”

“Great minds think alike.” Fareeha grins. “Let me ask if he has a workshop nearby so I can fix his leg and maybe you can take care of the nerve-interface for his leg. I think it is faulty too.”

Fareeha and Angela walk downstairs where they see Ambre and Pierre having breakfast together and Lara is eating from her bowl and making a mess while eating.

“Pierre, Me and Elisabeth are going to attempt to fix your leg.” Fareeha interrupts “Do you have a workshop I can use?”

“Yes, I have a workshop in the back that should have everything you need.” Pierre confirms “What do you want me to do?”

“You need to disconnect your leg and come with me to a room I have been preparing to inspect the nerve interface for your leg. I think that thing is acting up too…” Angela continues while grabbing her toolkit. “Let's give the leg to Aya so she can inspect it while I work on you myself.”

Pierre and Angela go to a secluded room where they can safely remove his prosthetic so Fareeha can work on it and Angela can work on fixing the nerve interface.

“Alright Pierre, I need to sedate you so I can inspect the interface correctly without hurting you. Aya will remove your leg and work on it as quickly as she can.” Angela assures Pierre while she injects his leg with a sedative. “You won't go out but your whole lower body will go numb in a few minutes.”

“I already feel it working.” Pierre confirms “I just hope you can fix my leg. It's driving me insane these days not being able to walk properly.”

As soon as the leg is removed both Angela and Fareeha go their separate ways to finish the job. Angela removes the interface and installs a new one from Fareeha’s spare parts for her legs. While that happens Fareeha uses the workshop to upgrade the leg and remove any faulty components and she also replaces the outdated pneumatic actuators with new magnetic ones which will allow him to run again.

Angela notices that the nerve in his leg is damaged by the improper installation of the implant and she has to shave off a bit of the nerve to allow it to connect properly again. They both work through the entire morning to get Pierre’s leg fixed and at noon the new leg is installed and he is back on his feet.

“You two did an amazing job!” Pierre exclaims excitedly “I feel I can run again with this new leg. It’s so responsive and snappy. It almost feels like it’s an actual leg minus the feedback.”

“Well, I “Accidentally” upgraded your leg with spare parts for my own military grade legs.” Fareeha gestures with air quotes. “You are such nice people and we wanted to help you.”

“I sincerely thank you for this” Pierre sobs “I can finally walk properly again and I hope these parts are not too hard to come by on my own.”

“No worries Pierre!” Angela assures him “Here are some addresses where you can order the special parts Aya uses too for her legs but we have to go now otherwise we won't get to Brussels in time for our meeting there.”

“Merci.” says Pierre emotionally “I am sad to see you go but I am grateful that I have met such amazing people under such unfortunate circumstances.”

They say their goodbyes and promise to keep contact before they gather their things and leave Orleáns towards Paris and Brussels. They arrive in Paris without any other problems. Fareeha steers Zerzura to the gas station Torbjörn pointed out on their list before they parked the bike there to go to the city itself to do some sightseeing and allow Angela to do some shopping.

As they arrive at Forum de Halles Fareeha has to hold Angela by her hand to keep her from running away.

“Come on Liebe! You’re lagging behind!” Says Angela as she pulls Fareeha with her towards the mall.

Fareeha was never into shopping. She hated having to go from store to store, try on outfits she never liked or could even afford. Angela, on the other hand, loved passing through those stores, trying out different clothes and she had to admit, seeing her girlfriend in new clothes is refreshing to see and she wishes she was into shopping more.

“Maybe I should give this a try myself.” she thinks as she watches Angela talk to the store attendant about the right clothing.

“Aya, Liebe.” Angela looks at Fareeha “What do you think of this outfit?”

Angela stepped out a changing booth dressed in a Bordeaux red dress with a white striped shirt. Over this, she is wearing a long white summer coat with a yellow/orange scarf. In her hair is a golden hairband that seems to resemble her neural interface of her Valkyrie suit.

“W-wow, Liz.” Fareeha stammers while staring at her girlfriend. “You look amazing in that outfit!”

“Thanks, Liebe.” Angela giggles while turning around in front of a mirror “I like it too.”

“Elisabeth?” Fareeha asks while gathering all her strength. “Can you help me find a nice outfit too? I need new clothes.”

“I already found some outfits that you might like, Mein Liebling.” Angela grins “Luc, please guide my partner to the mannequins we prepared.”

“Certainly, miss Wyss.” the omnic says with a calm voice “Come with me, miss Fakhoury.”

Fareeha follows the store attendant to the back where she sees 3 mannequins set up with differing outfits. One immediately struck her fancy. The one on the right has a simple but elegant pair of jeans with a grey and white striped shirt and a leather jacket with the eye of Horus stitched on the left shoulder. To finish it all off a leather bag is hanging over the mannequin's shoulder and on its head are a pair of expensive looking aviator sunglasses “C-can I try on that right outfit?” She stammers.

“Certainly, one moment please.” the omnic says while walking to the storage in the back. When he returns he has all the items on display neatly folded. “You can use this booth to try it on. Miss Wyss already made sure it should fit you but it's better to be sure.”

Fareeha nods and anxiously enters the booth to try on the outfit. After she finished the notes that the clothes fit her perfectly. “Figures, Angela always had a feeling for this stuff.” she thinks to herself.

She exits the booth and immediately feels stared at. Then she notices Angela straight up ogling but that stare quickly changes to the biggest smirk she has ever seen on Angela’s face. “I told you there is an outfit that fits you.”

 “Yeah, you’re right again.” Fareeha admits “This really fits me and I even got some nice sunglasses.”

[Source material.](https://twitter.com/MonoriRogue/status/846582064396718080)

When they walk to the counter, Fareeha looks at her outfit at every angle she can get but when she sees the price of the outfit she has to swallow twice. “This outfit is a quarter of my months’ pay at HSI, are you sure we can afford this?” she whispers to Angela.

“Yes, I have a lot of savings from my time at the Green Stripe Medics, I will pay for your clothes because they fit you better than I expected.”

They pay for their purchases and then leave the store. For the rest of the day, Angela and Fareeha just walk along the mall and finish their afternoon at a café to have a coffee before they leave.

“This was surely an interesting experience.” Fareeha hums over her still hot coffee. “I hope I don’t have to do this often.”

“Don’t worry, but when you’re at Forum des Halles in Paris you need to buy something!” Angela explains excitedly “Besides we got a nice afternoon together something we can’t do often.”

“uhuh.” Fareeha murmurs while finishing her coffee “I suggest we hit the road. We have to reach Brussels before sundown because we need to call Winston for a report.”

“Good idea, let's move.” Angela says while getting up to walk to the counter to pay their bills.

Fareeha is waiting at the parking lot idly tapping her fingers on her helmet.

“What is Angela taking so long.” She thinks to herself while checking the time “It has been 30 minutes already.”

A few minutes later Angela comes around the corner and Fareeha starts the bike indication she is eager to hit the road.

“What took you so long?” Fareeha asks angrily “It’s been 45 minutes.”

“Sorry, I bought us some snacks for on the road towards Brussels.” Angela says with an assuring smile. “Let’s go then.”

They hop on Zerzura and they drive off to leave Paris. Navigating this city is a lot more tricky than driving on the highway. Cars, mopeds, bicycles and pedestrians whizz past them at break-neck speeds and some dangerously close but eventually, they reach the freeway and head towards Brussels.

The ride to Brussels is quiet and boring. Especially when they have to cross Luik/Liége.

“Let's leave this awful city as quickly as possible.” Angela growls. “All this grey depresses me, even the omnics look depressed while walking on the sidewalks.”

“Yeah, I don’t like it here either.” Fareeha confirms “But the traffic here is a nightmare. It’s like they did not modernise their roads. It's all cheap asphalt.”

After a boring and long drive through the city, they hit the freeway again towards Brussels. They both see two contrasts. Beautiful landscapes but cobbled together cities and towns which seem not planned at all. Some cities have a bright Vishkar neighbourhood in them that stands out like a sore thumb. When Fareeha and Angela reach the Brussels district they immediately notice an improvement in the roads but they still aren't as good as the toll roads in France.

Just before they reach Brussels they take a break at a rest stop

“Fareeha?” Angela calls. “I forgot that we don’t need to use our aliases anymore. Only France and Poland still enforce the Petras act.”

“I forgot about that.” Fareeha agrees “I can't wait to get rid of this covering makeup. I want to be able to be me again.”

They eat some of the snacks Angela bought in Paris and drink the last of the still warm coffee.

“What are you going to do with your hair now you can be Angela Ziegler again?”

“I think I’m going to keep it for a while. I like it a lot and it’s a nice change. Makes me less recognisable on the streets.”

“Good point.” Fareeha says while wiping off the makeup covering her eye tattoo “Finally I can wipe my nose without being afraid revealing my tattoo.”

“OH!” Angela exclaims as she watches a video on her phone “Pierre sent me a video with his new leg while taking a run.”

“Let me see.” Fareeha takes over Angela’s phone “Aww, he looks so happy he can move properly again. It’s a shame we had to lie to him about our actual identities and jobs.”

“Yeah it’s a shame but it had to be done otherwise we might get caught en then we might get locked up in jail and I don’t want that to happen to either of us just because of some stupid act.”

“Agreed, but I suggest we hit the road again if we want to arrive at the EU headquarters before sunset.”

Angela nods and puts on her helmet as does Fareeha.

They reach the EU HQ without any problems and as soon as they reach the entrance a valet boy walks up to them confused about what he is supposed to do with the old vehicle.

“Just tell me where to park my friend. I prefer to drive her myself.” Fareeha says to the valet boy who guides her to the parking for smaller vehicles.

Fareeha finds a nice parking spot under a roof and she grabs the rain cover out of one of the bags so she can cover Zerzura against rain. Meanwhile, EU employees help her with their luggage which will be taken to their rooms. In the lobby, Tom waits for them so he can lead them to their room and meeting room.

“Welcome to the European Union Headquarters, Doctor Ziegler and Captain Amari!” Tom Bauwens greets them. “It is a great honour to meet such high profile individuals.”

“Thanks, Tom but the pleasure is all ours. We’re just grateful we can stay here without being prosecuted.” Angela greets “You are here to guide us to our room I assume?”

“Yes, that is correct.” He confirms “But I also wanted to meet you two personally. The European Union is completely behind repealing the Petras Act except for two notable members. But we expect one of them to repeal in the next year or two.”

“That would be nice. We have been using aliases to stay undercover in France.” Angela says while remembering the time when she joined Overwatch.

“Thankfully we had aliases and a changed appearance.” Fareeha continues “I captured two thieves and was interviewed on local TV…”

“You two did that? Since when did Overwatch own motorbikes?” Tom reacts. “I saw that on TV. Pretty top-notch driving there by the way.”

“Well, the bike is mine. They just restored it for this mission.”

“That is amazing. I recognise the model of the bike. These are really old and still burn fuel instead of using a fusion engine.”

“Some members of the Ironclad guild helped us get fuel and in Bordeaux, the bike got a check-up as well.”

“Right, that is how you do it.” Tom said while he gestured them to follow him. “The headquarters are not really a hotel but we have quarters for international guests like you where you can sleep and even cook. Follow me.”

They follow Tom to some lifts and he chooses the 25th level. As they enter the lift Angela notices the stereotypical music which she hates so much. Fareeha notices Angela’s discomfort.

“What is wrong ya amar?” Fareeha asks her girlfriend concerned.

“I just strongly dislike elevator music.” Angela responds stern “I heard it too much while rushing over to help a patient and the music did not help the nerves.”

“I understand.” Fareeha says short knowing not to push the subject.

The lift stops on the 25th floor and they exit. The hallway they walk through is simple but adequate. They stop at a door with a Dutch flag.

“As you two are en route to Amsterdam the Dutch suite would be fitting I thought.” Tom says with a smile.

They enter the room. It is a nice room, nothing too extravagant. There is an assortment of Dutch cheese on the counter in the kitchen. Angela inspects the kitchen, it appears to be stocked and when she opens up a cupboard she lets out a gasp that makes Fareeha rush over in a heartbeat.

“Angela!” Fareeha yells “What is wrong?!”

“They have hagelslag!” Angela laughs “I have missed this stuff since I enrolled in Switzerland!”

Fareeha has no clue what Angela is talking about and looks her with a raised eyebrow in confusion.

“Hagh-el-slak” Fareeha repeats badly. “I have no clue what that is.

“Hagelslag is a Dutch traditional bread topping which is basically chocolate sprinkles but a bit harder.” Tom laughs.

“It is super unhealthy but also just too delicious not to eat.” Angela joins in.

“Well, I’ll give it a try tomorrow at breakfast.” Fareeha shushes “Just let's get something to eat before we call Winston. I’m starving since we kind of skipped dinner.”

“Good idea.” Angela says as she turns to Tom. “Are there any restaurants still open in this building?”

“There is a good one on the top of the building which is still open for a few hours. You will have a good view of the city while having the best food the European Union has to offer.” Tom hands them a key card which is in red, white and blue which appears to be for their room.

“That sounds great!” says Angela as she accepts the key card. “We’ll go there right now. I hope they have a table left with a good view.”

As Tom leaves them on their own they put on some fitting clothes and leave to the lift to the restaurant.

The restaurant itself is modern looking with hard light fixtures illuminating the rooftop restaurant. The clerk guides them to a table on the edge corner of the building where they have a commanding view over Brussels.

Angela orders a lasagna with an Italian wine and Fareeha picks a Wienerschnitzel with a German beer.

“Hm, this is lovely isn't it?” Angela murmurs “I enjoy my view greatly.”

“But you’re looking at me.” Fareeha says confused while taking a sip of her beer.

“Like I said, I enjoy my view. I see the most beautiful woman in front of me now. What more would I need on this great evening and trip.”

Hearing this makes Fareeha turn slightly red on her face. As they finish their dinner they call the waiter for the check but he tells them that it's on the house. Which they gratefully accept. They both go to their room to have a short video call with Winston and probably Lena as well.

Fareeha turns on the HoloVid TV and connects it to the encrypted network of the EU. When the connection is made Athena requests her Agent ID and Angela enters her number.

“Hello, Dr Ziegler.” Athena confirms “What can I do for you today?”

“Hey there Athena.” Angela greets back. “Fareeha and I would like to have a video-call with Winston. He is probably waiting for us.”

“Yes, he told me that you would call today. I will put you through, one moment.”

As Athena directs their call to Winston's office Angela fills their glasses with some wine. She notices that they are still in their dresses.

“Umm Liebe?” Angela turns to Fareeha “We are still dressed for our dinner date.”

“Meh,” Fareeha shrugs “Winston has seen us in fancier clothes remember. He probably won't mind.”

“Yeah, good point.” Angela says while the connection is established and they see Winston peeling a banana.

“Good evening Dr Ziegler, Captain Amari.” Winston greets with a salute “Nice to speak to you two again. How has your trip been going.”

“It has been wonderful so far.” Angela starts “On our first stop we met a man who appeared to be a bike enthusiast and he wanted to compliment you four on your work on the bike.”

“Well, that’s nice to hear! I'll tell the others too.”

Suddenly they see a flash of blue and brown appear in the background.

“Hey, Winston!” Lena yells in the back “Who are you talking to, luv?”

“Oh hey there Lena” Winston says clearly surprised by the flash of blue. “Angela and Fareeha are giving me a mission update. They are in Brussels now.”

“Oh HEY ANGIE, ‘REE!” Lena calls out excitedly “How are my favourite birds doing?! Em! Angie and Ree are on the phone!” Lena zips back out Winston’s office.

“Ehm,” Winston clears his throat “What did happen on the rest of the trip?”

“Well we stayed in a lovely hotel that was on Ana’s list she left to Fareeha.” Angela continues but is again interrupted by Lena zipping in with Emily and Jesse in tow.

“Sorry luvs.” Lena apologises with a smile. “But I found these two slacking  in the cafeteria.”

“Hey Emily, Hey Jesse.” Fareeha waves “Nice to see you too.”

“Ok, Lena. Are you done interrupting?” Winston grumbles annoyed “I’d like to continue and I see you want to hear what Angela and Fareeha were up to as well.”

“Sorry, I haven't seen ‘Ree in a few days and I am just so curious what the birds are up to up north.”

“Fine, you all can stay.” Winston gives in. “But keep the interruptions to a minimum.”

“Yay!” Lena cheers.

“Continue, Angela.” Winston says while looking at Lena who makes a zipping gesture across her lips.

“After a good night we left for Bordeaux but when we went to Carcassonne to have a coffee Fareeha chased down two thieves.”

“And I dished out some sweet Justice™.“ Says Fareeha proudly “We were invited to the police office to fill in some forms.”

“What kind of forms?” Winston asks while writing in his notepad “Do you have a copy and did you use your aliases?”

“Of course, don’t worry Winston.” Angela assures “We got copies and Tom will send them to you by courier. They should arrive tomorrow.”

“Excellent.” Winston rubs his hands “These positive messages will help repeal the Petras Act more easily with the cooperation of the European Union.”

“Let's hope France and Poland will do that…” Fareeha sighs “I am done with hiding my identity.”

“We’re still working on that.” Winston says with a frown “France is the home country of Petras and they are quite stubborn, Poland is just being a backwards hole.”

“Anyway.” Fareeha continues “We left the city after we had our coffee at a famous coffee shop which could be billed to the city as a reward for capturing the thieves.”

“That’s nice to hear, luv!” Lena yells from the background.

“We left the city towards Bordeaux to meet Jean and his wife. He gave Zerzura a checkup and refuelled her. We stayed there for the night. His wife is an excellent cook and Jean is indeed an enthusiast.”

“Heh, You know it.” A gruff voice calls from the back. “Jean is a master mechanic but also a special piece of work and a great friend.”

Torbjörn heard Lena’s racket and wanted to check out what happened.

“I hope he didn’t give you much of a hard time?”

“No, He has his special way of hospitality but he was still welcoming.” Fareeha answers.

“Why does everyone just barge into my office while I am having a classified video call with undercover agents?!” Winston growls “Take a seat Torbjörn but don’t interrupt too much please.”

“Gotcha.” Torbjörn says as he installs himself in a seat next to Jesse.

“Continue, please.” Winston gestures he wants things to move on.

“Of course.” Fareeha continues “After we left Jean we left toward Paris and Angela wanted to see a river we passed close by but when we drove past this river we saw a car in the river and we just had to help.”

“I hope the suit was watertight.” Emily asks quietly “I could not really test it before you had to leave.”

“The suit performed just fine and it didn’t even hinder my movement in the water.”

“As we helped those people out of their car I helped them to warm up before the ambulance arrived.” Angela added.

“As they entered the ambulance the man gave us the key to their Bed and Breakfast where he wanted us to settle in and feed their, amazingly friendly, dog.”

“They were dismissed quickly from the hospital and joined us later that day. We later went to bed after we chatted for a while. The next day we fixed up the man’s prosthetic which was malfunctioning due to rusty parts and a misfiring nerve interface. Fareeha upgraded the actuators using spare parts for Fareeha’s legs and I gave his interface a service and the needed firmware updates so it can talk to the new actuators.”

“It seems you two are doing all kinds of good while on a trip to Amsterdam.” Says Jesse as he takes a drag of his cigar “Keep it goin`.”

“Jesse, I’d like to ask you not to smoke in my office.” Winston turns to Jesse. “I’ll allow it for now but keep it out of my office next time.”

“I hear ya, Winston.” Jesse grumbles as moves out of the office to an ashtray outside the office. He returns without his cigar and sits down in his seat.

“Continue Angela.” Winston gestures “What happened after you reached Paris?”

“Well, what do women do in Paris?” Angela grins “We went shopping in Forum des Halles!”

“Angela, I am a gorilla. I don’t know what women do in Paris but shopping seems likely.” In the background, they could hear Lena and Emily quietly squeal and Emily has to hold Lena to keep her from interrupting again. Lena appeared to want to ask a question but Emily covers her mouth before a sound can escape.

“Well it was a nice day with Fareeha even though she is a bit uncomfortable in these situations.”

“Yeah…” Fareeha admits while rubbing the back of her head. “I don’t like shopping because most of my clothes were given to me by HSI and I prefer uniforms because they make me feel safer and I often think I will damage my clothes to quickly.”

“Aww don’t tell me you didn’t get some new clothes?” Lena whines “I would love to see you in some nice clothes!”

“Don’t worry Lena.” Angela chuckles as she swipes in a picture of them wearing their new clothes “We both got some new outfits for both of us, yes even Fareeha has a fitting outfit.”

[Pic](https://twitter.com/MonoriRogue/status/846582064396718080)

“Angela!” Emily exclaims. “Those outfits are amazing! Well done!”

“I love Ree’s glasses, they fit her well.” Lena agrees. “I need new ones too. Got the address?”

“I will send it to you when we arrive in Amsterdam.”

“Alright!” Lena cheers “My current glasses are a bit falling apart.”

While Angela and Lena were talking Fareeha snuck away and changed out of her dress and into her new outfit.

“HEY LENA!” She yells “You wanted to see my outfit a bit better so I would show it to you personally!”

As she comes into view Fareeha could see the others’ eyes widen in amazement.

“Ok, that photo did not do it Justice™…” Jesse mutters “That outfit is damn well chosen.”

“I agree with that.” Winston adds “It is refreshing seeing you in civilian clothes instead of uniforms or training clothes.”

“Thanks for the compliment guys.” Fareeha nods “But I still feel more comfortable in my uniform but for this mission, it is important to blend in.”

“Agreed.” Winston says “What happened after that?”

“Well that’s it actually.” Angela shrugs “We left Paris and now we are here in Brussels at the European Parliament building.”

“Ok well. I see you’re progressing according to the schedule.” Winston continues “It’s been nice talking to you two but its late and I need to get some sleep as do the others.”

Lena groans, Emily giggles and Jesse just stands up from his chair and puts his hat back on without making a noise. He learned that from Genji.

“We are going to sleep too. Tomorrow we’re going on the home stretch to Amsterdam.”

“Good night then.” Winston greets “Contact me when you reach your destination.”

“Yes, Winston.” Fareeha salutes “We will contact you as soon as we reach Amsterdam.”

“Good, now get some sleep. Good night.”

“Good night Winston.” Both Angela and Fareeha say in unison.

As Angela closes the connection Fareeha undresses and puts on her nightgown.

“Tomorrow is the end of our journey ya amar.”

“Indeed, I wish we could go on a bit longer but Amsterdam has been waiting for a bit longer than planned not that I mind though.”

“Agreed, let’s get a good night sleep. I tried this bed and it's really comfortable. Besides I want to try that hagelslag stuff you found in the kitchen.”

“Let's do that.” Angela giggles “I want some too before you eat it all.”

They share a few laughs before they both go to bed. Angela reads some magazines and Fareeha just browses the internet on her phone.

The next morning both Fareeha wakes up to an empty bed.

“Angela?” She calls “Where are you?”

“Over here!” Angela calls from the kitchen. “I made us some coffee and breakfast.”

“Why are you up so early?”

“Early?” Angela chuckles “It's eleven o’clock. You kind of ‘overslept’ Liebe.”

“Damn, that is something special. Maybe it’s because I get this vacation feeling of this trip.”

“You managed to complete your New Year’s resolution after all. You took some time off and slept in.”

“Heh, that is true. I took time off while working.” Fareeha giggled “I like that.”

“Let's dig in and start packing we need to drive a couple hundred kilometres more before we reach Amsterdam and we still need to figure out a way to that Omnium. We didn’t get an address and we forgot to ask Winston.”

“Oh shit, that’s right!” Fareeha says “We’ll have to ask someone when we get there.”

“Don’t worry, the Dutch are one of the best English speakers besides native English countries. Just ask anyone and they’ll probably help us.”

“Jesus Christ, this Hagelslag stuff is amazing!” Fareeha gasps “Why is it only appearing in Belgium and the Netherlands?”

“Well, it’s only common in the north of Belgium since they speak Dutch too but with their own dialect.” Angela explains while finishing her breakfast. “It never caught on in other countries even though tourists hoard the stuff when they come to the Netherlands.”

“Hm, weird.” Fareeha shrugs “Let's finish up and hit the road.” I want to reach Amsterdam before sunset.”

Angela nods and starts clearing the table. Fareeha starts packing their bags and makes the bed. After they finish cleaning the room they go downstairs and say goodbye to Tom. Fareeha picks up Zerzura while Angela waits outside.

“Let's go do the home stretch ya amar.” Fareeha says while driving to the entrance to pick up her girlfriend “It's just over two hours from here so we should be there before noon.”

Fareeha starts her bike and it roars into life making heads turn once again. They leave Brussels without any problems and they hit the freeway soon towards Antwerp. Due to the bad roads in Belgium Fareeha has to keep their speed lower but as soon as they hit the Dutch/Belgian border, which is only shown by a white line over the road and some abandoned checkpoint buildings from the turn of the century, Fareeha can feel the road improve and gives Zerzura more of a kick and soon they pass the speed limit. Tom added their license plate to the police records as a “Diplomatic vehicle.” so she doesn’t have to worry about speeding fines.

While speeding across the pristine Dutch asphalt Fareeha feels Angela behind her enjoying the wind rushing by at incredible speeds. She notices a long stretch of empty freeway and really floors it while a classic rock song from Germany [6] starts playing on her earphones. As the song starts they enter the A2 towards Utrecht. It is a multi-layer freeway with each of the two decks having 4 lanes. Although it is around two in the afternoon there is not much traffic on the road. Fareeha notices she can just take the top deck towards Amsterdam but has to slow down because the traffic is picking up and she can’t drive as fast as she was.

“How was that bit of high speed ya amar?” She calls to the back. “I hope it wasn’t too fast for you?”

“Not at all” Angela assures her driver “It was a nice adrenaline rush zipping past the other traffic. I felt like I was flying without leaving the ground.”

“That is why I loved driving Zerzura.” Fareeha agrees “She is a lot faster than the hoverbikes we have today.”

As they passed Utrecht the navigation system of Zerzura notifies them that they nearly reached their destination. The double-decker road combines to a single deck road and the traffic becomes a lot denser as they close the distance towards Amsterdam.

They leave the A2 freeway and enter the inner Amsterdam city ring called the A10. But as they reached Amsterdam their navigation system stops because they didn’t enter the address of the omnium.

“Liebe, can you exit here?” Angela calls from behind “There is a mall here where we can ask for directions.”

Fareeha parks her bike in the underground parking and they enter the mall. They see a tall man with a shorter woman who appear to be shopping. Angela approaches them and asks them for directions. She hopes these people can help them. She already asked a couple of people and they could not help her with directions.

“Excuse me, sir?” Angela starts hesitantly “Can you help us? We are looking for directions to the Amsterdam Omnium.”

“Oh of course!” The man responds excitedly. “I come there often! The owner is a good friend of my wife and I. Come on I’ll lead you two ladies to him.”

They follow the man to the parking.

“How are you two here?” The woman asks. “Our car is over here.”

“Oh we’re by motorbike.” Fareeha answers with a grin “She’s over there.”

“Wow, that is an old bike.” The man reacts surprised. “I haven't seen a Fatboy in ages and in such good condition!”

“It has a bit of a story. I can tell it to you if you drop by the Omnium because we will be staying there for a while.”

“Ah! I heard he would get some guests later today.” The woman says as they enter their car “Follow us and we’ll lead you there.”

They exit the mall and drive to a large spherical building with a couple of smaller buildings attached to it which appear to be built later. Some cooling towers spew out steam. It was an impressive sightseeing this monument of the Omnic crisis in working condition and actively maintained apparently. Angela feels that she know someone crazy enough to pull it off.

“No, it can’t be him. He disappeared years ago.” She thinks to herself as they approach the building.

The man rings the doorbell and an omnic opens up after a while.

“Ah, Marwin!” the Omnic greets. “I thought you and Nienke left to do some shopping.”

“Yes, we were Bob but we found these two asking for directions to the Omnium.” The man, who apparently is called Marwin, says with a friendly smile.

Both Fareeha and Angela greet the Omnic and he invites them in. “My boss has expecting you two but he is currently in his lab working.” Bob explains “Allow me to take you to him.”

They are led through a series of hallways until they turn around a corner and they hear an explosion coming from a room on the right. Both Angela and Fareeha rush towards the room while Bob stays behind apparently ignoring the explosion.

“Sir! Are you ok?” Fareeha calls through the smoke.

“Yes, I am fine thank you.” A voice calls from the smoke “Just an explosive decomposition of some chemicals.”

“IT CANT BE!” Angela stammers as the smoke clears and a tall blond man appears. ”It can’t be you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> 1\. "Hello, I made a reservation for Wyss"  
> 2\. "I’d like to check in for the night”  
> 3\. "Do you have dry clothes in your car?"  
> 4\. "Ah! You have arrived!"  
> 5\. "These people have had a car accident and the woman needs medical help quickly. She seems to have a broken arm and they both suffer from hypothermia."  
> 6\. Plays Rammstein - Feuer Frei
> 
> Sorry if the translations are weird since I don't speak Spanish or French. A Dominican friend and Google translate were my help for this chapter...
> 
> Cheers and Merry Christmas!


	3. Chapter Three: Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela and Fareeha have arrived at their destination. The one they are meeting there is not the one they expected. This changes the mission and Fareeha's view on Angela's history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to
> 
>  
> 
> [Valathe](http://archiveofourown.org/users/valathe/pseuds/valathe)
> 
>  
> 
> for proofreading again!

The Omnic leads Angela and Fareeha through a series of hallways and corridors. When they turn around a corner they both hear an explosion coming from a room to the right. Both Angela and Fareeha rush toward the site of the explosion while Bob stays behind ignoring the whole situation completely.

“Sir! Are you ok!?” Fareeha calls through the smoke.

“Yes I’m fine thank you.” A voice calls through the smoke during a coughing fit. “Just an explosive decomposition of some chemicals. I just wanted to know what would happen.”

While Fareeha helps the man recover she hears Angela gasp loudly.

“It can’t be!” Angela stammers while the smoke clears “It can’t be you!”

Fareeha leaves the man and runs over to her girlfriend to calm her down. Angela appears to be very confused and on the brink of panic.

“Ya amar? What is wrong?” Fareeha asks Angela while walking over to calm her down.

Before Fareeha could get a response Angela appeared to have snapped out of her trance as the smoke has cleared and she jumped towards the man and into his arms making him nearly fall over since it looked like he still needed to find his balance from the explosion.

“Angela!” The larger man greets while giving her a firm hug _“Lang niet gezien lieverd! Fijn dat je veilig bent aangekomen!_ [1] _”_ Hearing this new language made Fareeha confused.

 _“Ja, Fareeha en ik zijn op de motor gekomen.”_ [2] Angela speaks in that same strange language as she had learned it from a very young age. _“Ik wil zometeen weten waarom jij om ons vroeg.”_ [3]

 _“Is goed!”_ [4] The man nods while letting go of Angela “ _Vertel mij eerst wie deze jongedame is!_ ”[5]

“Liebe?” Angela turns her attention to her confused girlfriend. “This the third person who knows my cup size.”

Fareeha now even more confused walks over to greet the man. As she sticks out her hand the man grabs her hand gives it a firm shake.

“Hello, my name is Bouke but everyone calls me Cable since my name is hard to pronounce for non dutch speakers.” The tall bearded man greets welcoming. “I am what you could call Angela’s foster father but that’s something I will tell you about over a mug of coffee or tea. Tell me something about yourself starting with your name.”

“Bouke,” Angela starts “This is Fareeha, my girlfriend and partner in Overwatch.”

“Ah Fareeha Amari!” Bouke roars with a genuine smile. “I remember you as that flighty girl that would tag along with Captain Amari. Always hanging around McRee and Reyes.”

“Have we met before?” Fareeha asks while raising an eyebrow. “I don’t recall meeting you before…”

“That is because I was rarely at the base.” Bouke responds with a laugh. “Let’s go to my house so you two can meet my wife and I will explain all this.” Bouke makes some vague circling gestures with his hands while wiping his face clean of soot. “, and get you two changed into something more comfortable.”

Angela and Fareeha change into the clothes they brought with them from Gibraltar in a side room and leave their bike suits in a laundry chute.

Bob joins them later as they walk to the house attached to the Omnium but leaves them shortly after they arrive. The house itself is very homey furnished and as they walk to the kitchen they see a woman washing some dishes in the sink. The woman is about the same build as Angela but instead of platinum blonde she has long white hair.

“Marieke!” Angela calls happily while waving.

The woman turns around and immediately gives a broad smile and walks toward the four to greet them.

“Angela!” Marieke greets “ _Wat leuk dat je er bent! Bouke had me verteld dat je kwam._ ” [6]

“ _Fijn je weer te zien Marieke._ ” [7] Angela says with a smile while hugging Marieke.

“ _Wie is dit_?”[8] Marieke turns to Fareeha “ _Ze komt me bekend voor._ ” [9]

“Marieke, This is my girlfriend, Fareeha Amari. She is the daughter of Captain Amari.”

“AH!” Marieke laughs “I remember you when your mother brought you along for a visit in Switzerland! My, you have grown.”

“Nice to meet you too, Marieke.” Fareeha says while shaking her hand. “This is all a lot to take in for me.”

“That’s ok Fareeha.” Bouke says from behind her. “I suggest we go sit down at the dinner table and explain this to our Egyptian friend.”

They all leave the kitchen they are greeted by a giant German Shepherd which immediately jumps up to Fareeha which makes her nearly fall to the tiled floor as the dog is larger than other German Shepherds she has seen.

“Frank!” Bouke commands the dog stern “ _Ga naar je mand!_ ” [10]

The dog leaves Fareeha alone and whipmpers as he appears to try to convince Bouke he can stay but Bouke just frowns, gives a low growl and points, while snapping his fingers, to a dogbed in the corner of the living room.

“Sorry about that.” Bouke apologizes while rubbing the back of his head. “Frank is not allowed to do that since he is such a large dog.”

“Its ok.” Angela laughs. “Fareeha already has experience with dogs on this mission.”

“Yeah, somewhere in France I’ve met a golden retriever which was just as nice as Frankie here.”

Frank does not make a noise besides just looking up and wagging his tail.

“Alright…” Bouke continues as he gestures “Take a seat. We have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Fareeha, what would you like to drink?” Marieke asks while bringing two mugs of steaming coffee.

“A cup of black tea would be nice.” Fareeha replies.

“One black tea coming up!” Marieke confirms with a smile.

As the older woman walks towards the kitchen Angela, Bouke and, Fareeha settle themselved at the large dinner table which appeared to be made of hard wood and seemed to be quite old. Marieke returned with two mugs of tea and joins the three and grabs a knitting kit with some blue and gold wool. Frank looks up once more but then lays down to go to sleep.

“Ok,” Bouke sighs while rubbing his nose. “Where to start. There is a lot to go through.”

“Just start at the beginning, Bouke.” Angela says with an assuring smile “I havent told her the story that well. Might as well be now. Since I suspect there is something else at play here.”

“That is correct.” Marieke says looking up from her knitting “We’ll tell why you two are here after we explain everything.”

“Alright.” Bouke says while straightening himself. “I’ve known the Zieglers even from before Angela was born. I met Werner, Angela’s father, at a convention for medical technology. He and I became close friends quickly since he and I are both working with nuclear physics.”

Bouke takes a sip of his coffee and clears his throat.

“I was at the hospital when Angela was born too. I was quite young. Around 20 years old. Every time they were visiting me I would watch little Angie while Marie and Werner would head into Amsterdam.”

“It was always a great joy when we would drop by “Uncle Bouke”. Angela says longingly but with a joking tone in her voice. “Always those massive pancakes he would make, those are fond memories.” Angela sighs.

“Yes, but sadly good times ended. The Omnic crisis happened and Angela’s parents were killed in one of the many attacks.” Bouke says while swallowing hard “I sometimes still hear Werner’s last words.”

He pauses to regain his senses. The crisis appeared to have left deep scars in his memory. Marieke comforts him while Fareeha rubs Angela’s shoulder who appears to be softly sobbing too which put her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder for comfort.

“What were his last words?” Fareeha asks carefully.

Bouke straightens himself and takes a sip of his coffee.

“Take these keys to my car.” Bouke swallows twice while trying to fight back tears. “Save Angela, and get to Amsterdam!”

Bouke wiped tears from his eyes. Takes another sip of his coffee. His wife gives him a firm hug and a peck on the sheep.

“Since then I made it my sole purpose to help Angela become the best in what she desires to become. Due to these events she turned a pure and hardcore pacifist and refused to hurt anyone from then on.”

“Yes, I made it my mission that no one would get hurt if I could do something about it.” Angela adds. “Bouke took me in and more or less raised me on his own since Marieke came into the picture only a few years later.”

“Haha, yeah. Bouke used those big blue eyes of hers to reel me in and now I’m stuck with him for the rest of my life due to marital bonding.” Marieke chuckles while kissing Bouke’s gray head and showing off their wedding rings.

“Angela enrolled in normal schooling here in The Netherlands but quickly rose through the school system skipping grades and quickly gaining her first PhD here in Amsterdam.” Bouke continues. “Soon I was asked to join Overwatch and we moved to Switserland.”

“That is where I became head of the Swiss hospital and Torbjörn took me in because Bouke was away too often rebuilding power grids and other infrastructure.”

“Yup, I wasn’t much at the base in Switzerland so you, Fareeha didn’t see me much. I tried to be at Winston’s graduation but I had to prevent an Iranian fission reactor from melting down. That damn thing was ramshackle as all hell. The plant was over 50 years old and in bad shape too.”

Marieke clears the table and leaves to clean the dishes while Fareeha is still paying attention to Bouke’s story while Angela is snuggled up to her. A couple of minutes later Marieke returns with some cookies and some, to Fareeha, strange waffles.

“Here Fareeha.” Marieke hands her one of the strange waffles. “These are stroopwaffles, a Dutch specialty. I bet you’ll like them.”

Fareeha takes a bite of the waffles which appear to be quite hard but also soft at the same time. They seem to be filled with a syrup like substance which tastes very sweet.

“I think I’m going to like it here!” Fareeha says with a broad smile and a chuckle. “Continue your story Bouke.”

“While Angela was still working for the hospital Torbjörn and I would bring her to Overwatch where she could meet the others.” Bouke continues while taking a bite of his waffle. “After a few years both me and Torb would help her getting into Overwatch as head of the medical department as I was already head of Nuclear Technology and Vital Infrastructure.”

“You know what all happened at Overwatch since we’ve met often, Fareeha” Angela adds while smiling but her smile vanishes as she sees something concerning.

“Bouke, what happened to your right arm and leg?” Angela asks concerned while pointing at his arm prosthetic. “Last time I remember you had all your limbs and didn’t even want to consider replacing them even though Moira offered.”

“That is a whole story on itself.” Bouke grumbles “I was working on the fusion reactor of the HQ to keep it from exploding but as we all know I failed spectacularly thanks to those two numbnuts fighting or something. A pulse charge landed near the overheating reactor causing the safety systems to fail and releasethe plasma, so it could get to the fuel storage, and this caused the hydrogen tanks to explode in a massive chain reaction, ripping off my arm and leg in the process.”

“You were at the headquarters when it exploded?!” Angela yells angrily “Why didn’t you come to me?! I could have helped you!”

“Angela,” Bouke says calmly “I was knocked unconcious from the shock of my two limbs being blown off. I woke up a week later in the hospital while the two hotheads were gone already. If I see either of them I have something to tell them with my right fist which is made of carbon fiber so its extra painful.”

Bouke was visibly angry and balls both his fists. Marieke puts her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Both Angela and Fareeha don’t want to interrupt since Bouke looks like he could explode in rage since his face was still red like a tomato.

After a while he calms down and his face returns to its normal pale white. He lets out a deep sigh and continues his story.

“After I recovered I returned to Amsterdam to restore this old Omnium and to repurpose it to fit my needs. I dedicated all my time doing research on why that pulse grenade could disrupt that reactor so much. Also Angela tell me how I could not contact you after the fall?”

“During the fall I had to take on an alias to keep other companies from locking me down or be their poster girl. One of them had backfired immensely and the other is now merged with me. Veronica Mueller was my last major alias.”

“Dr Mueller I remember!” Bouke exclaimes excitedly “She was the one sending me that letter asking for a solution for their power problems!”

“So those nuclear reactors were yours?!” Angela replies surprised. “I thought that letter never arrived and the local government just sent those as a relief effort. Come to think of it, those reactors were way to clean to come from a middle eastern country.”

While Angela finishes processing the thought Bouke runs upstairs to what appears to be his home office judging by the noise coming from above their heads. They can hear him rummage through all kinds of cabinets and cursing in the process.

“AHA!” They hear coming from a room up top. Shortly after they see Bouke run down with shining eyes. “I found the letter!” He says with an excited smile as he hands Angela the letter.

“Yes, that is the letter I sent.” Angela confirms “But why didn’t you write me back?”

“You didn’t leave a return address.” He shrugs.

“You knew where to send the reactors but not a letter?” Angela scolds the older man.

“Those reactors were sent to the local government and I didn’t know if you were stil there.” Bouke says apologetically “I heard the GSM were quite flighty, packing up in a day and all that shit.”

“Yeah, but those reactors were well built and you even included sand filters for the trucks that hauled them through the desert.”

“Yeah,” Bouke grins “Neat idea huh? But anyway lets progress the story.”

While Angela and Bouke are going over the letter one more time Marieke calls Fareeha with her.

“Whats up?” Fareeha asks Marieke with a raised eyebrow.

“I made you these, _lieverd_.” [11] Marieke says with a motherly smile while holding up a knitted scarf and mittens. “It gets quite cold here during the winters and you will be staying with us for a couple of months so you might want to stay warm.”

The scarf is bright blue with an eye of Horus knitted on the ends in golden yarn. The mittens themselves are blue. “Winston sent me some pictures of you and Angela in your new uniforms and I made her a set with some earwarmers too.” She says with a smile while handing Fareeha the knitted items. After this whole story telling is done I will hand Angela hers too.”

They return to Bouke and Angela finishing the letter.

“Angie, look what your “mother” made me.” Fareeha grins while holding out the scarf and mittens. “This way I can dish out Justice ™ even in winter.”

“Liebe, those look cute!” Angela quips while clapping her hands “Marieke, that scarf looks like it will fit her well!”

“I’m currently working on yours Angela.” Marieke says with a smile “That Emily has some design skills!”

“I’ll tell that you like her designs.” Angela replies with a warm smile.

“Alright ladies, the story is almost done.” Bouke interrupts wanting to progress the conversation. “A year or two ago I got the recall message from Winston but I was still reluctant to respond to it. I sent him a reply that I won’t return just yet but I would use my influence to repeal the Petras act since I believe Overwatch can still do much good in this world if managed properly.”

“Yes, I think Winston will do a great job since he doesn’t have a shady best friend who did all kinds of dark stuff in Blackwatch.” Fareeha growls.

“But it gets a bit serious now. I will explain to you why you are here.” Bouke continues while a frown forms on his wrinkled face. “There is a certain group of people that wants us all dead and one of those people has a special grudge against Angela my informant told me.”

“Moira!” Angela gasps shocked. “Is she coming for me?”

“Sadly, yes she is.” He growls as he dips his head slightly. “She holds you responsible for the destruction of all her work she did and wants to capture you to redo all those experiments on YOU!”

“I DARE HER TO TOUCH ANGELA!” Fareeha yells angrily and protective. “If anyone lays ONE bad finger on Angela they are in a world of pain and agony!”

“Fareeha Amari!” Bouke exclaims angrily “No need for that! You two are here for a fucking reason! Not to protect ME but for your own safety! This base is a near impenetrable fortress and it has survived multiple Talon raids and one of which included that Reaper asshole. YOU. ARE. SAFE. HERE!”

Both Angela and Fareeha duck and let out a whimper for the sudden outburst of the large bearded man.

“Ahem.” Bouke clears his throat. “Sorry about that. I just want to tell you two that Amsterdam knows of your presence and will protect you two in a discrete way so you can just walk through the city unhindered.”

“That is good to know that Amsterdam allows us to live normally here.” Fareeha nods “But I think we both will stay at the base for a while. Get settled in and such.”

“But I have a question.” Fareeha responds reluctantly. “What about the others at Gibraltar? Are they in danger?”

“No, my informant told me that Talon does not have any interest in the other members. Altough Reaper seems to hold some strange grudge against Jesse Mcree.”

“I have another question for you Bouke.” Angela turns to her foster father “I kind of need a lab so I can work on a project I have been stuck on for ages. I assume you don’t have a biotics lab with a nanite supply around here somewhere?”

“Funny you asked.” Bouke says while rubbing the back of his head. “I kinda just finished a lab for you and a gym for Fareeha a couple of days ago so you should be all set!”

“You knew I was going to ask this.” Angela says as she looks at Bouke. “You probably knew that Fareeha was my girlfriend too.”

“Yup, my informant is thorough” He grins. “You will meet her soon enough.”

Bouke finishes his drink and stands up to clear the table. Marieke joins him to the kitchen and the pair leaves Angela and Fareeha alone.

“Ok, that Bouke guy is an interesting guy.” Fareeha starts “Did he raise you on his own?”

“Not really, only for a couple of years after my 8th birthday when my parents died.” Angela explains. “He took me in and a few years later Marieke would become his girlfriend and appears to be his wife now judging on the rings on their fingers.”

“Yeah. I noticed how they look at each other as if they are still in love even though they are probably nearing their 60’s.” Fareeha says as she kisses Angela on the head. “Let’s see if we can reach that age.”

“Yes, if I got my timeline right Bouke is currently 59 since he is 20 years older than I am. Marieke is 56 I think. They both got grey quickly but I think she has dyed her hair white.”

“Yeah it suits her.” Fareeha agrees with a nod, imagining Angela with white hair which makes her face warm up a little bit.

Both Angela and Fareeha get up from te table and sit down at the fireplace where a fire is softly crackling and soon Frank joins them. Angela snuggles up to Fareeha as they watch some TV on the HoloVid and soon Bouke returns to the living room calling them for dinner.

“I see you ladies have made yourself at home!” Bouke says with a loving smile. “Marieke and I just finished perparing dinner, care to join us?”

Frank looks up at the word “dinner” and starts wagging his tail. “No Frank, you already had dinner, this is people food not doggy food.” Bouke scolds the dog which reluctantly leaves with a whine.

They leave for the kitchen where another dinner table is set up but this one is a bit smaller and longer and this one has all kinds of food on it and one large pan with what appears to be a mix of kale and mashed potatoes. A black enamel casserole is set up next to the kale with a large sausage and gravy. [12]

“This looks wonderful!” Angela quips happily.

They all eat until they all are close to passing out especially Fareeha and Bouke who appear to have lost all dignity by eating way too much. Angela and Marieke clear the table and load the dishwasher.

Fareeha and Bouke drag themselves to the couch in the living room and deposit themselves on the soft leather to watch some TV but Bouke passes out immediately after the sports program has started. Marieke walks in with Angela and they both see the pair asleep and Bouke snores softly while Frank sleeps on top of Fareeha. Angela snaps a photo of the three with her phone to save it for later.

After an hour a voice comes out of speakers in the ceiling and a holographic head appears. “Sir, I don’t want to interupt but Marwin and Nienke are at the door.”

“Thanks Mìmir, Let them in.” Bouke yawns while rubbing his eyes.

“Um Bouke?” Angela points surprised to the floating head. “What is that floating head? It kind of scares me.”

“Oh! Haha.” Bouke laughs embarrassed “That is Mìmir [13], the base’s AI and my assistant. I should have told you about his existence.”

Both Fareeha and Angela turn their attention to the floating head that greets them politely.

“Greetings fair maidens!” Mìmir greets with a genuine smile. “My designation is Mìmir named after the nordic god known for his infinite wisdom. You both know my colleague Athena over at Gibraltar. Athena and I were developed at the same time and I stayed here in Amsterdam while Athena moved to Switzerland and later to Gibraltar to support Overwatch.”

“Nice to meet you Mìmir.” Angela greets the AI back.

“I am tasked to assist you two to your every need. I can supply you with information and materials needed for your projects or other activities but I need your identification before I can start my duties for you two.”

“Ah right!” Bouke slaps his forehead “I need to get those ID cards. Captain Fareeha Amari and Dr Angela Ziegler right? I am still a bit groggy from my nap.”

As Bouke runs off, Marwin and his wife walk in the living room where they see the others standing around a floating holographic head.

“What is happening here?” Nienke starts while joining the others.

“I introduced myself a bit on a surprising fashion, ma’am.” Mìmir apologizes.

Marwin just chuckles. “You were never a star in introducing yourself. Its probably because we rang the doorbell.”

“I agree with your statement, sir.” Mìmir nods. He does not have a chance to continue as he is interrupted by Bouke who storms in and nearly hits Nienke in the process.

“Hey Marwin, Nienke” Bouke greets happily “Sorry for the racket I forgot something important for Angela and her girlfriend.”

“Ah, I see.” Marwin says as Bouke puts on his coat.

“They are going to stay for a while, I’ll explain later.”

“Anyway, Wanna hit the city tonight?” Marwin continues “There are a couple of bands playing in all kinds of bars and clubs and it might be a good opportunity to show Angela and Fareeha the city. I just hope the tourists are staying in their hotels for this one night.”

“Let me put in their data in the base first” Bouke says as he punches in a code on a panel on the wall. “Since I still have Angie’s data I just need yours Fareeha. Please step to this monitor so I can give you an iris scan so you can get in at will.”

Fareeha walks up to the panel and her eye gets scanned by Mìmir as soon as she gets close enough.

“Registering…” Mìmir says with a monotone robotic voice. “Welcome to the Amsterdam Omnium, Captain Fareeha Amari!”

“Thanks Mìmir but you can call me Fareeha.”

“Aknowledged.” Mìmir confirms. “Have a nice day!” He disappears and Marwin initiates the next subject.

“Alright! Let’s go!” He says while rubbing his hands. “You still have to keep your promise to get completely pissed!”

“Yes, Lets go.” Bouke says as he walks to the hallway “Let me get my coat first. If you all would follow me I have something for Angie and Fareeha that might help us in our night out.”

As they follow Bouke through a series of corridors they end up in what looks like a large garage which is mostly empty besides a couple of bicycles. He walks up to two brand new ones and hands Angela and Fareeha a set of keys.

“Here.” Bouke hands them the keys “Use these bikes to get around since Amsterdam central is locked for cars since the 20’s. We’ll bike to the bus stop.”

“Umm that is going to be a challenge…”

“Why do you say that Fareeha?” Bouke says confused. “You drove a motorcycle all the way from Gibraltar to here without any problems.”

“Well, It’s been a while since I sat on a bicycle and I might have to relearn.” Fareeha says while rubbing the back of her head.

“Nonsense!” Bouke laughs. “You never forget how to cycle!”

They exit the garage and Fareeha does a couple of practice laps on the courtyard outside and quickly gets the hang of it.

“Ok you were right. I got this!” Fareeha laughs as she does a couple of powerslides and one of which makes her fall over.

“Well maybe taking it easy for a while might be a better idea.” Angela chuckles while she cycles over to her girlfriend to help her out of her situation. She sees that there is no damage done and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“There! All better?” She giggles.

“Definitely! Your kisses are often more than enough to heal even my broken bones.” Fareeha grins and brings her girlfriend in for a deep kiss. As they part Bouke calls them from the gate.

“You two done?” Bouke asks as they finish. “We need to be there in 15 minutes or we have to wait half an hour more and that costs drinking time.”

After a short bike ride they reach the bus stop and they see they are not the only ones waiting for the bus. They see a group of Omnics who appear to be going to work next to a herd of Japanese tourists taking selfies with everything and visibly annoying the locals.

“As you can see the tourism here in Amsterdam is a big issue and it has been since the early 2000’s” Bouke explains as he shakes his head. “Especially the Asians are bugging the hell out of the people here.”

Angela sees a pair of men run over to the arriving bus shouting that they need to hold the bus.

“Why do we need to hold the bus.” Bouke asks the men in Dutch. “It’s just arriving.”

“My wife is pregnant and can give birth at any moment.” The man says while catching his breath.

“So youre taking your wife to the hospital by the bus!?” Angela responds outraged.

“I’m calling you three a taxi!” Bouke says as he grabs his phone. “This is unhealty for your wife and your unborn child!”

“Please don’t. We can’t afford a taxi!”

“Nonsense! I’ll pay for the taxi so you three can get to the hospital safely.”

Angela already called the taxi company while Bouke and the man were talking and it arrives after the bus leaves. Bouke pays the driver to get them to the hospital as quickly as possible.

“Sorry about that.” Bouke says as he waves the taxi off. “We have to wait for the next bus anyway.”

“I don’t mind.” Fareeha shrugs “We helped some people and that is what matters.”

They all agree on that and wait patiently for the next bus. Bouke pays for their tickets at the driver and they all sit down and the bus departs towards Amsterdam Central Station. The hoverbus arrives at the bus stop on time. The station is a mixture of mid 21st century architecture with 19th century style. They see workmen take down some scaffolding as if the main structure has just finished a massive renovation. Both Fareeha and Angela are gawking at the massive building and the hard light architecture decorating the old structure.

“Pretty isn’t she.” Marwin grins from behind the women, one of which is frozen in place in awe. “It’s a miracle this whole city has survived the Crisis in this state. Most of the historic centre is still in one piece thanks to the German Crusaders and Overwatch who shut down the Omnium in record time.”

“Can’t say this didn’t come at a cost, we lost a lot of good people preserving this damn tourist trap…” Bouke growls with a tiny smile but there is a hint of grief in his voice. “Just so we could get annoyed by tourist once more.”

Bouke wipes a tear from his eye as Marieke puts her hand on his shoulder. Marwin also seems emotional. Fareeha refrains from asking him as does Angela.

“OK!” Bouke jumps up “Enough sobbing, the Crisis is over, a second one is brewing but not today! Lets get pissed!”

The group walks to a tram stop and Bouke hands them some cards. “Here, these cards are what we use to pay for transit. You ‘check-in’ and ‘check-out’ at these RFID scanners.” Bouke points at a metal bar with a screen and a pink circle on it reading “ _OV-Chip hier”._

As they hold their cards on the reader it beeps and “Incheck OK” appears on the screen signaling they are allowed to enter. They all check-in and sit down in some plastic seats. The tram departs and after a short ride they stop at a tram stop called “Spui”.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Fareeha asks curiously

“We have had an app on our phones for planning public transit routes for decades and it serves us well” Bouke grins while holding out his phone. They walk into an alley where they are lead into a bar filled with pool tables.

“Welcome to, you probably already guessed it, [dramatic pause] The Poolbar!” says Bouke as he opens the double door with a grand gesture.

“Yo H4ns!” [14] Bouke shouts to the Omnic barman. “ _Mag ik drie pilsjes, twee cola en een glas water?_ ” [15]

The Omnic acknowledges the order and starts preparing their drinks.

“H4ns has been running this bar ever since they kicked out the biker gang that used it for money laundering before the war.” Marwin explains. “Business was tough as one of the only Omnic run bars in the city and people were still scared of Omnics.”

“I see that is no longer the case” Fareeha gestures to the occupied pool tables with mixed groups of Omnics and humans. “They seem to get along well”

“Here in Amsterdam or The Netherlands in general we have always been a bit more progressive.” Nienke adds “This country was the first to legalize same sex marriage back in 2001 remember?”

“Yup, Omnic/Human marriage was legalized shortly after the end of the Crisis.” Marwin continues. “This city is a beacon to freedom and equality. We might not be the same but we can treat each other as equals.”

H4ns returns with a platter which held three green bottles [16] of beer and the other drinks.

Bouke grabs one of the bottles and opens it with a loud POP. Letting out a content sigh as he takes a gulp.

“Impressive bottle you got there.” Fareeha points at her bottle. “Would you like to show me how to open this?”

Bouke just chuckles as he closes his bottle and shows his two guests how to open theirs.

As the bottles are opened they drink and soon a second order comes up. H4ns brings them more bottles and as he wants to walk away Marwin holds him.

“Can you tell us when a table is available?” He asks H4ns.

The Omnic nods and soon a table is available for them and they play a couple of rounds. They form two duo teams consisting of Marwin + Fareeha versus Bouke + Angela. They drink more beer and other drinks, soon they all start to feel a bit tipsy, especially Fareeha starts to feel the haze of the alcohol.

Marwin, Nienke and Marieke are obviously still sober since they havent touched alcohol so far.

After a couple rounds of pool they are satisfied with their score.

“That's a tie ladies!” Marwin chuckles “Lets go to a different bar where a couple of friends are playing tonight.”

They pay for their drinks and leave for their next stop. After a 10 minute walk past all kinds of stores they arrive at a bar where a band just started performing.

“Hello everyone!” a man behind the microphone greets “We are Johnny and the Rockers and we're going to play some of the best classic rock songs from the 20th century!”

The band starts and Fareeha immediately lights up in enjoyment. She orders more beer while they listen and dance to the band’s music.

They all have a good time and drink a bit too much, especially Fareeha who definiteky feels the alcohol; but as she looks at Angela she is not surprised to see her still fresh as does Bouke. She asks herself how he does it.

“I see a friend of ours in the audience and for this next song I want to ask him on stage since our bassist needs a break” the lead singer interrupts. “Put you hands together for our friend Bouke!”

He walks up to the stage and takes over the bass guitar with a big smile.

“Since when does he play bass?” Angela asks Marieke who is obviously elated. “Just a couple of years now but he's gotten good fast! It’s a kind of therapy for him to keep bad dreams away.”

Fareeha makes a mental note of this. “This might come in useful some day.” she thinks to herself as the lead singer announces the next song.

 “Alright folks! Time to kick it up a notch so here is “Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC!!” [17]

The band including Bouke plays the song with practiced ease but they still enjoy their time on stage. Both Fareeha and Marwin play the airguitar while Angela just screams along the simple lyrics.

“It's a shame you didn't bring your guitar Liebe!” Angela shouts, clearly drunk. “I would love to see you play the guitar now!”

“Not happening im afraid!” Fareeha responds while ordering more beer as the song ends and the band starts to re tune their guitars “I left my guitar at home remember? It would jeopardise our mission.”

But Angela did not hear Fareeha as she ran off to Marieke to whisper something in her ear. Who in turn formed a broad grin on her face as she nods in acknowledgement. Fareeha notices Marieke walking to Bouke and whispering something in his ear, while she returns with the ordered drinks.

“I forgot about another special guest!” Bouke yells in the microphone. “May I request a certain Fareeha Amari on stage?!” Hearing her name being called startled Fareeha and at first she refused to walk up to the stage but the pressure of Angela and the other people yelling her name makes her go on stage anyway. “I’m going to regret this but fuck it.” She thinks to herself.

“How can I play guitar without- ” Fareeha protests as she gets on stage but, before she could finish her scentence as she gets a guitar pushed in her hands by Bouke with an assuring wink. “Do you have any songs or bands you like to listen to and you know how to play?”

“Well its not exactly from the 20th century but do you perhaps know how to play ‘Stand Up For Rock N Roll by Airbourne?” Fareeha asks the band reluctantly

“Hell yeah we do! We were actually planning to play this song later tonight but since this is a special occasion we’ll play it right now!” The lead singer says while grabbing his other guitar.

“Alright!” Bouke yells to the packed bar. “We’re all set, grab yourselves a beer, wine or whatever, Lets get pissed and stand up for rock and roll!!!”

As the drummer starts the song Fareeha feels all tension drop and enjoys playing the lead guitar of this song. She sees Angela clearly enjoying her playing the guitar, which motivates her even more, and as one of the solos comes up she puts her foot on the speaker in front of her as she does often when she plays a solo.

“Ok, one more song for our guests here and then they have to fuck off stage to make room for our own, much better, bassist and our guitarist wants some glory for himself.” the drummer says while the entire bar bursts out in laughter including Angela. “Here is Radar Love by the Golden Earring!” [19]

As the famous bass solo comes up they see Bouke form a smile from ear to ear. Fareeha plays together with Bouke and has the time of her life. As they get off stage Angela jumps in Fareeha’s arms nearly strangling her and making them topple over.

“That was fucking AWESOME!” She exclaims as she kisses Fareeha on the lips. “I knew you could play guitar but that was exceptional and you looked amazing on stage!”

“That wás fun!” Bouke exclaims while putting his arms in the air. “Ive missed playing on stage.” Bouke says while wiping sweat of his forehead. “Now lets get some more beer and continue getting pissed.” Marieke chuckles over the excitement of her husband.

“I know what we can do!” Angela claps in her hands of excitement. “Lets see who can finish a meter beer the fastest!”

“Ya Amar, what is a ‘Meter beer’?” Fareeha asks her drunk girlfriend.

“A meter beer is a meter long tube filled with tap beer” Angela explains while ordering their drinks.

“Isn’t that a bit excessive?” Fareeha asks worried.

“Nah! (hic)” Angela blurts out “I’ll beat that old man’s ass in no time!”

“Challenge accepted Ziegler!” Bouke accepts the challenge.

“You're going down missy” Bouke growls as their ‘beers’ are put in front of them.

Marwin does nothing but laugh and starts the countdown.

“Three..”

“Two…”

“One….”

“START!!”

Both Bouke and Angela chug their beers at break neck speeds and it appears to be a head to head race. But the older of the pair still wins by a hair.

“This shows that good genes and experience still beat fancy technology!” Bouke blurts out as he wipes beer from his mouth and beard.

“Fair game” Angela says while shaking his hand. “Next time I will beat you, old man!”

“Sure you will!” Bouke roars drunkily. “I've had enough  for today and the hangover will be killer tomorrow. Lets go home.”

They all agree on that since both Fareeha and Angela are very much drunk and Fareeha has trouble standing. Nienke calls a taxi to take them to Bouke's base where they can sleep off the alcohol.

“Fuck!” Fareeha curses as they walk to their room. “We didn’t unpack!”

“I took the liberty to do that for you Captain Amari” Bob calls from behind them. “If you are able to follow me I will lead you to the guest room.”

They follow the Omnic to a simple bedroom with two beds. Bob wishes them a good night and leaves them alone.

Fareeha detaches her legs and Angela just flat out passes out and starts snoring.

“Um, Ya amar?” Fareeha wakes up her drunk partner “You are still wearing your clothes…”

Angela doesn't say anything besides a loud drunken groan and undresses and passes out again on the bed snoring loudly.

“I'm going to hate tomorrow” Fareeha thinks to herself as she falls asleep while the whole room starts spinning.

Both Fareeha and Angela sleep deep and snore loudly, Fareeha dreaming about her playing on stage in front of a massive audience.

After a few hours Fareeha wakes up with a mouth like leather and her head is pounding like a herd of cows rampaging through her skull.

“Ugh. I need a glass of water badly.” She thinks to her herself while struggeling to get up.

****WHUMP!****

Angela wakes up to the noise and as soon as she sees what happens she bursts out in lauging.

“Fareeha, what are you doing in that plant?!” She laughs at her girlfriend.

“I was trying to get a glass of water but forgot to attach my legs in the haze.” Fareeha grumbles from her bushy situation. As soon as she frees herself from her green host she quickly attaches her legs and stumbles to the sink in their bathroom and basically drains it. After she drank enough she goes back to bed and she sees Angela by her side softly snoring with a small smile on her face. With that image on her retinas Fareeha drifts off again.

BARK!! BARK!!

The noise wakes both Angela and Fareeha up with a jump as the big dog jumps on their bed and promptly starts licking Fareeha’s hungover face.

“Argh!” Fareeha giggles “Down boy. Enough of that!”

“Frank!” A voice bellows from downstairs. “Get over here! Bad dog!” Bouke yells in Dutch.

Frank gives a small whine and then leaves the two confused women to join his owner.

“Sorry about that ladies.” Bouke apologises while turning around “I was taking him for a walk and when I returned he just ran upstairs.”

“That’s ok.” Fareeha says groggily as she rubs her eyes. “I like dogs but Frank appears to be a handfull.”

“He’s like that when we have guests but the opposite when strangers arrive.” Bouke says as Angela and Fareeha get dressed. “He is a certified guard dog though so he can be very dangerous to people we don’t want here.”

“That’s cool and all but answer me one question.” Fareeha says while rubbing her eyes. “How the fuck are you up and about already and not showing a trace of a hangover?”

“That’s actually hard to explain since I am not a medical expert,” Bouke answers with a chuckle “But I think it has something to do with my Swedish and German heritage… and water.”

“Angie? Is that true what he says?”

“Well, genetics have something to do with liver function yes but its not proven yet. Besides he probably drank a lot a water before going to bed last night.” Angela answers while still waking up. After she has answered she turns around and continues what appears to be fake sleeping.

“Just my luck” Fareeha sighs “I am stuck with two master drinkers where one just cheats and the other is just a lucky bastard.” She janks the blanket off Angela who immediately protests.

“Hey!” Angela pouts sitting straight up in bed “The resistance to hangovers is not the main reason why I have nanites in my body and you know that Fareeha Amari!” She hits Fareeha on her arm while Bouke just chuckles in the doorway.

“Forget I said anything…” Fareeha sighs “But now we’re awake and one of us still hungover. I suggest we start the day and get some breakfast.”

They all go downstairs to the kitchen where Marieke is preparing breakfast with freshly baked bread. They could smell it from around the corner.

“Marieke, this smells amazing!” Angela compliments which makes Marieke blush. “This is just what we needed!”

“Well, I figured you would not be feeling so well so I started preparing breakfast for you two. Bouke and I already ate as he got up early to walk the dog.”

Angela and Fareeha join for breakfast while Bouke and Marieke have a coffee.

“Fareeha?” Marieke starts “Yesterday I made you something while on stage. She hands Fareeha a piece of paper with a drawing on it of her while playing guitar. “You looked so good while playing on stage I just had to draw it! So this is for you.”

 

[Source: https://twitter.com/anderjak/status/950092009712189441]

“This looks amazing Marieke!” Fareeha gasps surprised. “Did I really make that face while playing?”

“Haha, yeah you did” Marieke chuckles. “I just loved the expression so I captured it in this drawing.”

Fareeha hands the drawing to Angela and Bouke who both agree that it is a fitting drawing for such a short time.

“As you two have finished breakfast I wanted to show you something you might like.” Bouke interrupts the silence. “I don’t want you two living in the guestroom for this long”

“Let me finish first and then we’ll follow you.” Fareeha mumbles with her mouth full. “Also, Marieke I need this recipe for your bread! It’s amazing!”

“Thank you Fareeha,” Marieke says while she hides her blush with her coffee mug. “I hope to get some Egyptian recipes from you actually. Your mother was an excellent sniper and a magnificent cook.”

“Sadly I still don’t know where she is besides that one letter.” Fareeha growls as she downs a glass of orange juice. “But I have her recipe book from her ‘funeral’ that she left me. Its still in Gibraltar but I’ll ask Winston to send it to you digitally. I still want to keep the physical book as a reminder of my mother.”

“Thank you, I am curious what is inside that book but I am afraid I cant read Arabic.”

“That is not a problem since the whole book is in English and in Metric. My father doesn’t read Arabic either and he still needed to learn to cook.”

“Fair enough.” Marieke shrugs “Send it to me and I will cook you some.”

They finish breakfast and help Marieke clear the table. After that they join Bouke for the thing he was so excited to show them. They walk through a short corridor towards the back exit. Suddenly Bouke turns into a small hallway and opens a door.

“BEHOLD!” Bouke makes a grand gesture “Your own apartment in my base!”

“Wait, you got us an apartment?” Angela asks surprised. “How did you pull this off? You have two left hands when it comes to houses and construction work.”

“I had help from friends but this is still mostly my own work.” Bouke smiles proud “This apartment is for you two. Here are the keys.” Bouke throws them a set of keys which Fareeha catches with one hand.

“Mìmir is also present in the apartment but he will have an off switch if you two don’t want to be disturbed.” Bouke says as they walk in the small apartment. “This place should have everything you two birds need.”

The apartment has a homey feel just like the Bouke’s living room. Some old wooden beams decorate the livingroom ceiling and a small fire crackles in the cute fireplace. Next to the living room is a larger bedroom with a comfortable looking double bed. In the back of the living room is a small stocked kitchen with a cooking island, behind the master bedroom is the bathroom which has a shower and a large bathtub, there is a large HoloVid TV with various game consoles set up in the living room. At the end of the hallway is a small lift for what appears laundry.

“This must have cost a fortune!” Angela says while looking around. “This is too much!”

“Anything for my lovely foster daughter and her girlfriend!”

“Thanks ‘Dad’…” Angela jokes

“Ill let you two get settled in. I have to go continue research. Have a good day.”

Bouke closes the door and they are alone in their own apartment. They both explore the apartment quickly and the two agree that they both like the appartment.

“Well Fareeha, lets get settled in.” Angela rubs her hands. “I’m going to like it here.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes and translations  
> 1\. "Long time no see! Great you arrived safely!"  
> 2\. "Yeah, Fareeha and I came by motorbike"  
> 3\. "You have to tell us why you called us soon!"  
> 4\. "will do!"  
> 5\. "Tell me first who this young lady is!"  
> 6\. "Great to see you! Bouke told me you were coming!  
> 7\. Nice to see you again Marieke.  
> 8\. Who is this?  
> 9\. She looks familiar  
> 10\. Go to your bed!  
> 11\. honey/sweetheart/sweetie [Platonic]  
> 12\. https://i.imgur.com/wckzSac.jpg  
> 13\. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%ADmir  
> 14\. Pronounce as Hans  
> 15\. Can I have three beers, two cokes, and a glass of water?  
> 16\. https://i.imgur.com/gSRoiXu.jpg  
> 17\. Song: [AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie](https://youtu.be/Q8fZeaUHsjw)  
> 18\. Song: [Airbourne - Stand Up For Rock 'N Roll](https://youtu.be/MD7n-v2rYw0)  
> 19\. Song: [Golden Earring - Radar Love](https://youtu.be/Zf53Pg2AkdY)


	4. BONUS: Amsterdam drabbles (BONUS CHAPTER)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow the birds in Amsterdam as they try having some fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small collection of oneshots which are nearly independent of the story but it is still recommended to have read the first three chapters for the introduction of the OC's
> 
> Big thanks to both [Bonbonbourbon](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonbonbourbon) and [twoleggedhanna](http://twoleggedhanna.tumblr.com/) for proofreading this one. I tried experimenting with a change of style and I hope you all like it! ^^

“Lokvogels Oneshots”

# “Movie Night” Fareeha POV

Fareeha is lounging on the couch in Bouke’s living room and the sun’s soft rays illuminate her from behind as she reads the morning paper. It is a quiet morning, only broken by the soft snores that arose out of Frank, who’s fast asleep near her feet . She takes her time as she reads the article she’s currently on – an article about HSI. A full page spread  primarily detailing the success of their escort services in Egypt, and at the end discussing a special training regimen that has been issued thanks to one of their senior captains. Fareeha releases a puff of amusement.  They may have not mentioned that senior captain by name, but she knows it is her they are talking about.

Familiar footsteps come trudging in from the halls and when Fareeha turns her head to look, she grins and waves a hand. “Morning-!” Fareeha yelps as Frank steps on, a still organic part of, her leg to excitedly trot towards Angela.

“Easy there boy” Angela laughs as Frank jumps up to her “ _No jumping!_ ” She scolds the dog who lowers himself with a whine. With his head down, Frank returns to join Fareeha on the couch stepping on her again in the process making Angela burst out in laughter.

“You done?” Fareeha asks the dog with a growl before she turns her attention back to Angela. “What’s up?”

“I have a suggestion.” Angela grins wide while opening the newspaper she brought with her. “Let’s go see a movie! There is a retro movie night in a local cinema and they’re showing a couple of early 21st century movies in different theatres!” Angela points at a full colour advertisement of a local cinema complex.

“Might be fun to do.” Fareeha agrees while looking over the same ad “It has been a while since I visited a movie, but there is a problem. The movies are probably dubbed since all other countries I’ve visited dubbed their movies.”

Angela said nothing besides a smile as she pointed to a small text below the advertisement which read: “All films are in English with Dutch subtitles.” Reading this surprised Fareeha, when she went to the movies in other countries all movies were dubbed, and this prevented her from enjoying them.

“That is good to know ya amar. It would be nice to enjoy some movies while in a foreign country” Fareeha agrees while moving in for a kiss. “Is this the reason the Dutch are such good English speakers?”

“More or less.” Angela shrugs as they part “They were always a trading country. This helped them learn other languages but that is for another time.”

“Let’s get prepared then. I’ve read that the first movie starts in a few hours and the cinema is 30 minutes cycling according to my phone.”

“You’ve got the hang of this bicycling thing I noticed.” Angela quips happily.

They go to their apartment to get dressed. As they walk in Fareeha nearly trips over some discarded clothes they  haphazardly threw off last night making them both beet red remembering the past night.

As they open their closet they notice their other clothes that Winston sent over, which appear to be washed and folded in neat stacks. They see a note on the freshly made bed.

>  
> 
> You birds shouldn’t make such a mess.  
>  Was difficult to get your clothes in the closet without tripping.  
>    
>  -Marieke

 

“Riiiight, I forgot Marieke would clean our apartment after our other clothes arrived…” Fareeha mumbles face still flushed “I kind of got lost in the moment last night also, why did she address us as birds?”

“It’s the flying thing again, Liebe” Angela assures her girlfriend “and maybe she didn’t know what we were up to last night.” She says and pecked her girlfriend on the nose.

Fareeha gives a kiss back and they gathered the discarded clothes on the floor and threw them in the hamper before getting changed, including some proper clothes as Fareeha was still in her training suit and Angela was wearing her lab coat.

Fareeha settles with a pair of simple jeans, t-shirt and her leather jacket. Angela picks a pair of grey leggings with a white shirt and a grey overcoat together with a yellow scarf and the golden headband she bought in Paris.

“You look amazing as always, ya Amar.”

“Don’t sell yourself short Liebe, you look amazing yourself” Angela responds and she turns around to hide her reddened face.

They both share their fair share of kisses before they leave to go to the city. As they cycle to the bus stop towards the city Angela and Fareeha see all kinds of traffic whiz by. After a short ride they arrive at the bus stop and soon the bus arrives, so they can get on.

“There aren’t many passengers on this one Liebe” Angela as she points at the nearly empty bus. “Maybe we can take our bikes with us.”

Angela asks the bus driver if they can bring their bikes with them. The bus driver nods once in acknowledgement. “You two ladies are in luck! Just two other passengers now. I’ll open the rear doors, so you can get in.” The moustached man answers with a genuine smile. They use their cards to check in for the trip to the theatre district and sit down on the plastic seats. As the sun slowly moves to the horizon Fareeha puts on her new sunglasses while Angela snuggles up to her, Fareeha gives her a kiss on the head as they arrive at their stop.

“We’ve arrived ya Amar” Fareeha says while getting up. “Let’s grab our bikes and head toward the cinema.” Angela does not respond besides a silent moan as she stretches. They both grab their bikes and as they get off the bus Fareeha’s phone buzzes.

 

 

“Who was that Liebe?” Angela asks as Fareeha puts away her phone.

“Lena, she was just checking in.”

“I hope we’ll see her soon and something tells me she will drop by sooner rather than later.”

They both laugh in unison at the remark. As Angela and Fareeha walk past one of Amsterdam’s famous canals as the early evening sun shines overhead the blonde doctor puts her arm around the Egyptian soldier’s arm while she tells all kinds of stories about the mischief she caused while she was growing up in Amsterdam. Pestering the ducks, annoying the grumpy old man that used to live in a houseboat that used to be here. Playing hide and seek, ding dong ditch and, other games like these, with other kids in the neighbourhood.

When they arrive to the theatre district, they see all kinds of bars, cinemas and restaurants begging for their attention with flashing hard light, older LED signs together and HoloVid screens showing all kinds of advertisements.

“It is still annoying to come to the theatre district.” Angela growls while squinting. “Sadly, I forgot my sunglasses. These lights are blinding.”

“I don’t have a spare pair with me, sorry.”

“It’s ok, we’re nearly there.” Angela replies as she points to a large building with a yellow sign that reads “Pathé.”

As they walk up to the cinema, Fareeha sees a plaque with text written on it. She takes the time to read it while Angela buys their tickets.

“In front of you is one of the few pre-Crisis Pathé Cinemas still standing. This building is over 70 years old.” Was written in four languages; Dutch, English, German and Omnic. Fareeha contemplated the images of soldiers defending this building. this thought makes her shake her head wondering if this building was worth all those lives.

As she finishes reading she joins Angela in the line as she is still waiting for a desk to be free.

The line moves slowly since some of the cashiers appear to be struggling to keep up with the immense line. After a short while a 3rd register opens with a man who appears to be a manager as Fareeha can guess from his clothes. After a minute the man leaves and an Omnic replaces him. The two lines appear to distribute evenly over the three registers.

“This taking a while…” Fareeha sighs as they slowly move toward their register. “Why isn’t this automated?”

“Well, I did walk up to an automated register, but they are out of order.” Angela shrugs as it’s their turn. “ _Two tickets for the ‘Retro Night’ please_ ” She accepts the tickets and they move toward the woman who is checking their tickets at the gate. After their tickets have been accepted they move into the shop where they can buy all kinds of overpriced snacks and drinks. Fareeha finds Angela in front of a large tub of sweetened popcorn.

“Which theatre first ya Amar?” Fareeha asks her girlfriend while she attempts to read the brochure but to no avail, she’s still incapable of reading the Dutch.

“The first one is a romantic film called “Love Actually” I managed to get the ‘couple’s seat’ Angela responds with a giggle and she boops Fareeha’s nose. They enter the theatre and as they walk in they sit down in the soft red velvet seating under the warmly glowing lights which give off a romantic atmosphere.

The ambience sure did its work since Fareeha saw a lot of other couples sitting in other seats. All the romantic activity made Fareeha less anxious for her first romantic movie.

After the first movie, Angela turns to Fareeha.

“So, we now have two options: option one is a stereotypical action movie called “The Expendables 2” or” Angela reads from the brochure “We could go to a very popular animation movie called “Bee Movie” but something tells me the popularity was not about how good it was, it was more satirical. To be honest, senseless violence with an excess of explosions and stupid one-liners somehow more appealing to me than a fucking joke of an animation movie.”

“I just wanted to suggest the same.” Fareeha shrugs and smiles. “But I see great minds do think alike.”

“But fools seldom differ.” Angela adds with a mocking grin, “You still misquote it.”

They both go down to the café to have a coffee before the second movie starts. As they sit down in a booth in the café the late summer sun illuminates Angela from behind giving off a golden aura making Fareeha gaze at her with a small smile on her face. As Angela sees the dreamy look on her girlfriend she smiles coyly not hiding her blush.

“You know you are staring, right?” Angela says breaking Fareeha’s trance.

“Can you hold that pose for a sec?” Fareeha says as she shakes her head in search of her phone. “You look too angelic to not capture.”

Angela keeps the pose and with some trying Fareeha manages to capture the image she saw a few seconds ago and sends it to Lena who is obviously elated about the picture.

Fareeha puts her phone back in her pocket and the waiter arrives with their drinks. They thank the waiter and Angela immediately asks for the bill. After the girls finish their drinks they pay their bill and head back to the cinema. They find their theatre and this time they just sit in normal seats since it’s an action movie with action heroes from the early 21st century. During the movie, even Angela with her pacifist nature gets a laugh out of the silly one-liners besides the exaggerated violence.

They both leave the theatre elated with adrenaline raging through their veins. They both agree that the movie was too inaccurate to have happened and is purely made for simple entertainment.

“This one was surprisingly fun to watch even though the violence was a bit much for me.” Angela sighs as they sit outside the café after the last movie of the night. Fareeha just hums in acknowledgement as she slurps up her milkshake. After they finished their drinks they pay their bill and leave the café. As they exit the sun has almost set making the air feel cooler in an instant making Fareeha shiver.

“Liebe, it’s mid-July, why are you shivering already?” Angela asks her shivering girlfriend.

“I just had the shivers because your beauty struck me again.” Fareeha says with a grin while kissing Angela’s hand.

“Charmer.”

“I have my moments.” Fareeha grins as she gives Angela a kiss who in part returns a kiss on the lips. As they part the birds grab their bikes and leave towards the bus stop. This HoverBus seems brand new and a lot more passengers are taking this one Fareeha notices. It is nearly filled but they are still allowed to take their bikes with them. Angela told her before that if the bus is full they have to bike back themselves or wait and hope for another.

As they sit in the bus waiting to arrive at their stop Fareeha notices that Angela starts to doze off. She keeps her girlfriend awake until they arrive at their stop, so they can bike to the base to get some sleep.

As they enter Bouke’s living room they see him, and Marieke still awake, the fire crackling softly and Frank snores in his bed while Bouke reads something on his tablet and Marieke is working on a big knitting project.

“How were the movies?” Bouke greets them with a warm smile, his reading glasses nearly falling of his nose. “Took you a while.”

“Yeah, we had some drinks at a café close by the cinema.” Angela says, while hanging up her coat.

“Some old movies were playing, and we wanted to see what those were about.” Fareeha shrugs as she deposits herself on the leather couch next to the fire. Angela snuggles up to Fareeha between her legs and grabs her tablet from her bag to read something but after a while she falls asleep in Fareeha’s arms. As Angela dozes off, Fareeha gives her a kiss on her head while she tightens her arms around her sleeping girlfriend and makes a ‘shhhh’ gesture to the older couple. After a while she is overwhelmed by the sleep induced by the warm atmosphere and the crackling fire.

The next morning Fareeha wakes up in her bed next to a sleeping Angela. Seeing this image immediately lightens her confusion and fills her heart with warmth and affection, she manages to turn around and fall asleep again drifting back to dreams.

 

* * *

 

# “Boat trip” Angela’s POV

Angela is sitting on a fauteuil in Bouke’s living room, the morning sun shining through the window as Marieke is knitting across her on the couch, reading a medical journal about new tactile feedback sensors for prosthetics as her phone makes a “Message received” noise. She notices it came from Fareeha and reads:

She finishes reading the article and then gets up to go to their apartment. On the way she encounters Bouke in the corridors attempting on fixing a light fixture. He grunting in frustration, lips pursed, tongue stuck out and brow furrowed as he fiddles with the LED tube.

“Having trouble?” She asks the struggling scientist. “Be car- “

BZZRT! A short made all lights turn off in the long corridor.

“FUCK!” Bouke curses, aggravated, “Fucking shorted again! Mìmir can you turn the power back on?”

The AI bleeps in acknowledgement and the lights turn back on.

“Shouldn’t you be working on electric systems without the power on? You should know this since you work on extreme voltage systems.”

“Yup but I felt lazy. You’ve got a point though. Mìmir, can you isolate this fixture in the internal power grid and turn it off?

The AI turns off the fixture and Bouke continues his work as Angela resumes her journey to their apartment. As she walks in their apartment she notices that everything has been cleaned and notices a note on their kitchen counter.

 

> Angie,
> 
> Cleaned the house while you were shopping. Now off to a run.
> 
> \- Fareeha

 

“So that is where she went,” Angela thinks to herself as she gathers their swimming clothes and her summer clothes, including her sunhat and sunglasses.

After she packed their clothes and her sunscreen, Angela leaves to the garage and meets Bouke in the same corridor again but this time working on a different fixture. She asks for Bouke’s car, so she can get to the harbour in time.

As she gets to the garage she loads her bag in the convertible that is parked there, she connects her phone to the car’s sound system and starts her summer playlist. The car lifts off the floor the music starts, and she drives off.

As she drives through the city Angela opens the roof as the clouds move from the sun, so she can properly enjoy the July sun. As she nears the harbour she calls Mìmir.

“Mìmir! Come in!”

“Hello Dr Ziegler!” The AI greets her warmly, “What can I do for you?”

“Can you call Fareeha for me and put me through?”

“Certainly, one moment.”

The AI disappears from the screen and connects her call to Fareeha.

“This is the phone of Fareeha Amari.” A male voice calls on the other side.

“Hey Marwin!” Angela answers surprised to hear his voice. “Where is Fareeha?”

“She’s currently on the boat packing the equipment and handed her phone to me so it doesn’t fall in the water. Want me to relay a message to her?”

“No. I just wanted to tell you three that I’m going to the supermarket to pick up some more sunscreen and I’m at the harbour in 20 minutes.”

“Gotcha!” Marwin says before disconnects the call.

As the call disconnects she turns onto the parking lot of a small supermarket. After she finds a suitable parking spot she jumps out the car, without opening the door, with a nimble leap and walks in the supermarket. After some searching she still fails to find her sunscreen.

“Excuse me sir?” She asks the shop attendant with a friendly smile. “Do you know where I can find the sunscreen? The shelves appear empty.”

“No worries ma’am!” the attendant says while gesturing Angela to follow him. “If you would follow me I’ll show where the sunscreen has been moved to.” The man leads Angela to the shelf where the sun lotions and sunscreens have been moved due high demand.

Angela picks the sunscreen she wants and grabs a after sun lotion for her skin afterwards. After paying for her items she walks towards her car but passes an ice-cream stand and holds for a while while she checked the thermometer on the nearby bank. It read “31 ℃”

“Damn it’s hot” She thinks to herself. “I could use an ice cream to cool off.”

She walks over to the ice cream stand and orders a cone with vanilla, Orange, and lemon. She’s been teased at that it’s a strange combination but she likes it.

After she gets her cone Angela enters the car and heads to the harbour. As she arrives Fareeha and the others in the distance on a white boat. She parks the car and walks to the dock where the boat is waiting for them to depart.

Walking over the pier towards a white boat with a tiered cabin, she sees Marwin preparing fishing gear and Nienke in the cabin working on something. On what, Angela couldn't really tell.

“Ah! Angela!” Marwin yells, welcoming her with a wave of his hand “You have arrived! We’re nearly ready to depart.”

“Yep! The boat is stocked with snacks, beer, and other goodies set for a good time on the water.” Fareeha says excitedly while bringing in a few cases of beer. “Nienke is preparing some snacks in the cabin while me and Marwin are taking care of the other stuff.”

“Can I do something to help?”

“If you want, you could carry the other drinks from the car to the boat. That would be much appreciated since that is the last of the bottles.” A voice says from the cabin. As the sentence finished Nienke pokes her head out to greet Angela with a friendly wave and smile.

“I will do that then! No problem!” Angela says as she waves back to the woman on the boat. She walks to Marwin’s car and grabs the eight soda bottles that are in the boot.

“I have the bottles but there is one more case of beer in the car, but those bottles are brown instead of green…”

“Those are some bottles we nabbed from Bouke’s storage. They are a **bit** stronger than your normal pilsner” Fareeha answers with a proud smile. “Marwin distracted him and I grabbed the case while they were talking.”

Angela picks one of the bottles from the small crate and searches for the alcohol content. “11.6%” the label read, and she thought to herself that this is not beer anymore, but she makes a mental note for to try it anyway since she likes trying beers and she hasn’t seen this one before.

“You ladies ready to depart?” Marwin asks as starting the fusion engine.

“We are ready and excited!” Fareeha quips with a broad smile in anticipation of a day on the water while fishing. “Are you going to be fishing, ya amar?”

“Nah.” Angela shrugs and moves towards the bow section of the boat. “I’m just going to relax and take a nap in the sun.”

Angela spreads her beach towel on top of the sleeping cabin. She thanks Jesse for convincing her to bring this towel with her. The beach towel has a simple design as its just white, but it does have the Valkyrie logo embroidered in it. As she lays down on deck, she hears the birds chirping, and the hum of the engine of a large freight ship as it sails by.

“Fusion technology has really taken off here…” She thinks to herself as the landscape passes by. As she closes her eyes the boat turns, and the wind goes down and she drifts off to sleep.

Suddenly, Fareeha wakes her up.

“Angela! Did you put on your sunscreen? You know you get sunburnt quickly- especially on water!”

“Fuck! I forgot!” Angela slaps her forehead and scrambles to grab her sunscreen and applying it quickly, but is nevertheless still thorough.. “Can you help me with my back, Liebe?”

Fareeha applies sunscreen on Angela’s back like an expert and Angela catches herself letting out a small moan. “I love it when you massage my back like that.”

“I got some experience, this isn’t the first time doing this!” Fareeha grins but is clearly flustered from the compliment. After she finishes she reties Angela’s bikini and leaves to continue fishing. Marwin steers the boat to the lake that has been on the horizon for a while.

“Ladies and gentlemen! This is your captain speaking!” Marwin announces jokingly over the speakers mounted on a small mast on top of the cabin. “We have just entered “Het IJmeer” and we have set course to the Pampus Fortress! We should arrive there shortly where we can stretch our legs a bit and check out this old 19th century fortress.”

This of course wakes Angela and after a stretch she gets up and leaves toward the stern of the boat to grab something to drink as she got thirsty after sunbathing so long. As she walks to the fridge she sees Fareeha asleep on the rear bench of the boat while her rod is perfectly still. She chuckles at the sight of her girlfriend sleeping in the July sun like it doesn’t bother her at all.

“Hey Angela!” Marwin greets behind the wheel. “How is your day going so far?”

“Pretty relaxing actually.” Angela answers as she stretches again. “I realise now how much I needed this time off. I’ve been so stressed lately.”

“Well, being on the water helps with the stress since you can’t go anywhere. At least for me.”

Angela goes down the cabin to grab something to drink. As she grabs a bottle Fareeha yells down.

“Angie! Can you grab me something strong?”

“Something strong coming up!” Angela yells back as she grabs one of the brown bottles with “Kanon” printed on them.

“Here you go Liebe! Something strong!” Angela says with a grin as she climbs up the rear deck. “You want something to drink too Marwin? “I got myself a nice beer already, but thanks for the offer.”

Angela joins Fareeha on the back deck of the boat as they near the fortress but as they get close they see it is “ **Closed for Maintenance** ” as a sign read. They sail around the island hoping to see some activity but there is none.

“Huh, that is weird. It’s the high season they should be open for the public.” Marwin notes confused with a note of concern in his voice. “I wonder what is up with that.”

“That’s a shame.” Nienke says from the cabin. “Maybe we’ll just leave for the lake now and throw out anchor out somewhere and have a swim. The water seems to be a nice temperature according to the thermometers of the boat.”

“Sounds fun! Thankfully I brought my swimming gear just in case the fish wouldn’t bite and I haven’t got a nibble.”

As Fareeha barely finished her rod starts bobbing and she scrambles to grab the rod to reel in her first catch of the day. As she uses all of her strength to try reel in, what appears to be a big fish, she puts her foot on the railing of the boat. Angela watches as her girlfriend struggles, face scrunched up as she tries to reel in her catch. As Fareeha reels in her prize surfaces and Angela bursts out in laughter and making her nearly collapsing on the floor as she wheezed.

“Its just an old boot.” Fareeha sighs thoroughly disappointed.

“Great catch, Liebe!” Angela laughs out loud, struggling to catch her breath. “Let’s… Let’s take a picture with it for the others!”

“Yeah, let’s not.” Fareeha grumbles as she reels in the boot. She dumps the contents of the boot back in the lake. She cleans her fishing gear and stows it in a compartment below her and moves to the cabin, where she throws the boot in a bin to not pollute the lake.

As Fareeha walks down to the lower cabin to get her swimming clothes Angela lounges on the couch on the rear deck as she waits for her girlfriend to get changed. After a few seconds Marwin stops the engine and lowers the anchor so they can safely swim around.

“Alright, the boat is now steady and it is safe to jump off.” Marwin confirms as he grabs a rope ladder. He ties the ladder to a railing on the side of the boat but before he finishes Angela already dives in and the splash hits him in the face. This image makes Angela giggle like a little girl together with Nienke who just appeared on the rear deck.

Marwin regains his posture and finishes the ladder so his wife can climb down since she isn’t as young as Angela and doesn’t have nanites running through her body.

“Come in Fareeha-aaaaaaaaaaah…” Angela stammers as Fareeha walks up from the cabin, in a marine blue bikini with a dark blue loincloth around her waist and golden fabric around her biceps, making Angela lose her thought and mind with the image. The bikini accents her firm body and defined muscles making Angela’s mind go blank.

Image: [Fareeha's bikini inspiration](http://ruby-universe-artblog.tumblr.com/post/157524105906/soi-tried-to-do-some-drawings-about-the-pharmercy)

“Um ya amar?” Fareeha asks embarrassed. “You’re staring and it makes me uncomfortable.”

Angela regains her thought but has still issues with talking. “L-liebe… You look like an Egyptian goddess!” This compliment makes the Egyptian soldier red from top to bottom.

“It took me all day to get this one together because I had to do it on my own to keep it a surprise since you get your nose in everything!”

“You even have different legs too!” Angela notices Fareeha’s “normal” looking legs but there are still some hints that the legs are still prosthetics.

“Yeah, for this occasion I ordered new prosthetics just so I don’t look like a robot in this but more like a human.”

Fareeha removes the loincloth and takes a gracious dive into the water splashing Angela in the process. Angela gives a big splash in return and the resulting water fight makes both women giggle and scream like little girls. Nienke and Marwin join them after their water fight had died down.

Angela swims away from the boat to take in the view of the birds flying over while randomly cawing. She sees a large ship come from the river and a small yacht pass them close by. The skipper waves at them with a friendly smile until she is suddenly dragged under water with a strong yank and a yelp.

As she surfaces with a gasp she shortly after sees the culprit, her own girlfriend, has pulled this on her.

“FAREEHA AMARI!” She snorts while blowing water out of her nose. “Where did you get the nerve to pull a prank on me like that! If I catch you, you will be in a world of pain!” Angela yells as she chases the Egyptian who is swimming away from the boat.

She tries to catch up but Fareeha is still faster and has better endurance than her so she can’t catch the larger woman even if she wanted to. Defeated she turns around and swims back to the others who are batting around a volleyball. Angela closes the distance between them and she hears Fareeha close in on her with great speed. As soon as she hears Fareeha close to her she lunges out of the water and lands on top of her passing girlfriend and shoves her under water who goes under with a wet yelp. After a few seconds both Angela and Fareeha surface while snorting and coughing.

“NOW we’re even!” Angela quips as Fareeha spits out water.

“Fine. You got me. Next time I will pay more attention to my surroundings!”

“Hey Angela, Fareeha!” Nienke calls from the boat “I brought some snacks, want some?”

“Coming!” They both reply in unison. Angela swims in front of Fareeha but she quickly gets overtaken by the athletic Egyptian. Although she keeps trying to catch up she is unable to keep up with her much taller girlfriend. As they arrive at the boat they can smell the fresh coffee and cookies that Nienke brought with her.

“I win” Fareeha grins as she climbs up the rope ladder on to the boat. Angela does not respond besides a loud groan as she also climbs up the rope ladder but Fareeha sticks out her hand and as Angela accepts that hand she is pulled in a wet embrace with a kiss on the lips. As they part they both see Marwin and Nienke preparing the journey back to the harbour.

“Alright ladies, it’s time to return to the harbour but not without taking the scenic route.” Marwin says getting behind the wheel. “So get comfortable, take a cookie, grab a beer and enjoy the view!”

Angela and Fareeha both grab a beer and one of Nienke’s snacks, and head to the bow section of the boat to have a nap in the sun. Fareeha spreads her own beach towel, marine blue with the eye of Horus embroidered in golden thread in the centre, next to Angela’s and lays down with a thud.

As they lay down, Angela focuses her hearing to the lapping of the water against the bow of the boat and the soothing humming of the fusion engine. Next to her, she hears the soft snoring of Fareeha who occasionally talks in her sleep and mutters out the word justice. Seeing this endearing sight makes Angela’s heart fill with warmth and affection.

“Fareeha passed out quickly.” She hears behind her.

Nienke joins them with her own beach towel as she makes a silencing gesture with a finger to her mouth while she takes a picture with them both. Both women couldn't contain their laughter at the sight of Fareeha’s drooling face and sleep talking.

Fareeha obviously awakens from the giggling, the sight of Angela's smile pushing away the pleasant drowsiness of her nap. Angela shows Fareeha the picture, where she makes a peace sign with her tongue out, this makes her face turn red and leaves her in a flustered state.

“Do I really sleep like that?”

“Yes, you do sleep like that, Liebe.” Angela laughs as she puts her phone back in her bag. “You look adorable while sleeping and I honestly do not mind it.”

Fareeha huffs and lies back down on her beach towel. Angela joins her and as she lies down she feels that Fareeha puts her arm around her and she snuggles up her girlfriend whose breath slowly steadies and slows down. This indicates that Fareeha is asleep again and she slowly closes her eyes too as the boat makes a light turn.

Angela takes a nap while they enter the river but doesn’t fall asleep too deeply. She sill hears the humming fusion engine and the gulls screeching over something but she’s too lazy to check out what the racket is about.

After a short while she hears a chirp behind her. She slowly turns around and the sight makes her melt. The bird who was checking out the boat came really close to Fareeha and is basically near her hands. Angela notices that Fareeha is awake but does not move a muscle to not scare away the bird which curiously is checking out the previously sleeping women.

Apparently Fareeha’s mood is calm enough for the bird to feel safe, this becomes apparent as she slowly sticks out her hand and the bird perches on her index finger and Fareeha gently gets up but the bird calmly sits on her finger and happily looks around, chirping all the while.

As Fareeha stands and walks at a snail’s pace toward the stern of the boat while two other birds join the robin that has been there before.

Angela asks herself how Fareeha does this. She looks so calm and controlled with the two birds on her hands and one on her hair which has kind of nested in her dark hair. All three birds make their own noise as they are three different species. Angela quickly searches on her phone what the birds are. As she finds the descriptions of the birds three other larger birds join them. One of these larger birds lands close to Angela. The other larger birds land close by Fareeha who just sat down on the couch at the stern of the boat.

She knows the bird near her from heart since the white dove has been an inspiration to her Valkyrie suit and Fareeha’s suit has been based on the falcon next to her. Angela leans against the cabin to take in the scene in front of her.

“They appear to like you Liebe.” Angela smiles as she crosses her arms.

“Well you made a friend too Angela.” Marwin says behind the wheel as he turns the boat to the river entrance. Angela suddenly feels something fluffy next to her ear.

The white bird had gotten the idea that the doctor’s shoulder would be an excellent place to take a rest. The falcon just idly stared at Fareeha as it senses that its talons would hurt the Egyptian woman. The white owl that joined later sat calmly next to the falcon. Angela notices that the falcon and the owl do not have any interest in chasing the much smaller birds as they appear completely docile near her girlfriend.

The dove quietly sits on Angela’s shoulder while cleaning its white feathers. Both the dove and the falcon look at each other and then they take off flying side by side into the sunset. The sparrow, robin and, starling soon after take-off joining the falcon and dove in flight.

“A coincidence that that falcon and dove joined us since both our suits are based on those beautiful animals…” Fareeha sighs as they watch the birds fly away to the setting sun.

“Yeah, the resemblance is uncanny and it was an unique experience.” Angela agrees with a deep sigh as Fareeha puts her arm around Angela as the birds gave one last greet in the form of a few noises.

“Alright ladies” Marwin announces over the speakers over the speaker on the boat. “We are closing in on the dock as the fusion cell is running out for the engine and besides its getting colder already.”

“I notice that yes,” Angela adds as she feels a shiver roll across her spine. “Liebe, let’s get changed into something more warmer.”

They both go down to the sleeping cabin to get changed into their clothes. As Angela finishes changing she leaves Fareeha behind as she is still struggling with her legs. Angela grabs their beach towels, neatly folds them and picks up two feathers as a memory to the birds that visited them.

As the boat closes the pier they see Bouke and Marieke waiting for them. The older couple waves at them welcomingly as they wait by their car. While Marwin uses the bow propellers to close the gap, Bouke helps with the tying of the ropes to keep the boat in place. He helps Nienke off the boat and Angela helps Fareeha off the boat with a snicker.

“Allow me to help you ma’am.” Angela could barely hold her laughter for her girlfriend’s face.

“HMPH” Fareeha huffs annoyed.

As they get off the boat Marwin throws Bouke a small yellow cylinder.

“How did it perform?” Bouke asks his friend.

“Better than the last iteration. The engine was more stable too! Maybe work on a bit more longevity?”

“Wait. You were experimenting with fusion technology while we were relaxing?!” Angela says angrily.

“Calm down Angela.” Bouke says with an assuring tone in his voice. “The engine is perfectly safe, and you KNOW I do not test my inventions on involuntary subjects unlike your rival.”

“I should have known.” Angela sighs. “I know you have morals. My apologies.”

Bouke looks at the small yellow cylinder and puts it in a plastic bag. After they packed the cars the group leaves to their homes. Marwin and Nienke leave to their own home outside the city and while Angela, Bouke, Fareeha and, Marieke leave for their cars to head back to the omnium.

As they have a coffee Bouke is the first one to strike up a conversation.

“So Fareeha, did you catch any fish? I know you were quite excited to go fishing.”

“I didn’t catch anything” Fareeha says with a small pout on her face. “They didn’t even nibble at the bait. I only reeled in an old leather boot.”

Fareeha’s last sentence made Angela unable to hold her laughter.

“You should have seen her face when she reeled in that thing!” Angela snickers. “Never seen her so disappointed. It was hilarious!”

“At least one of us had fun while I was fishing. After this I just gave up and we went swimming in the lake.”

“Yes!” Angela quips as she pictures Fareeha with het bikini and other prosthetics “She even changed her legs to look less mechanical!”

“I can imagine. My leg and arm are still black, and it never occurred to me to get a ‘natural’ looking set.” Bouke says as he winks to his wife who in turn appears to be imagining her husband with normal limbs again, Angela makes out from the older woman’s dreamy expression.

“We swam around in the lake for a while and after a short while we got back on the boat to take a nap in the sun.” Fareeha continues.

“After a while we witnessed one of the most unique experiences of our lives. A couple of birds joined us as we entered the harbour. It was a surreal experience as there were 2 predatory birds, a falcon and a white owl and three other birds.” Angela sums up as she takes a sip of her coffee.

“It was so surreal, since my suit is based on a falcon and Angie’s suit on a dove but that isn’t the strangest thing.” Fareeha wistfully sighs. “We were also joined by what appeared to be a Canadian snow owl. Snow owls were my mother’s favourite bird. I felt like my mother joined us for a second and I know she is alive thanks to that letter.”

“After a few seconds the birds took off and the falcon and the dove flew side by side and the other birds trailing short behind them.”

“It sounds like a unique experience and it seems like those birds felt safe near you.” Marieke says as she cleans her glasses with her shirt.

“After the birds left we docked and now we’re here!” Fareeha finishes the story. “I’m quite tired and I could use some sleep in a bed.”

The four all agree that they are all quite tired and move to their respective bedrooms. As Angela and Fareeha enter their apartment they see fresh groceries on their dinner table. Angela puts the perishables in the fridge and makes a note to put away the other groceries in the morning. As she enters their bedroom she sees Fareeha already in her night gown they got from Marie.

She wishes her girlfriend a good night after changing into her own night gown and joins her in bed.

“What a day wasn’t it” She says softly to Fareeha hoping she isn’t asleep already but from the soft snoring she concludes that her girlfriend is already has been overcome by sleep. “Night Liebe, we’re going to need it. I feel this is just the beginning and something big is going to happen soon and it will not be fun, but I feel we are safe here.”

Angela turns off the night light and goes to sleep. Dreaming of them with actual wings; Fareeha with falcon wings and herself with dove wings, flying. This image puts a smile on her sleeping face as she lays there peacefully, feeling completely safe with her girlfriend by her side.

* * *

 

# “Homey Dinner Date.”

Angela is working in her new laboratory arranging all tools, setting up her detection equipment, connecting the pipes for the nanite tanks from Bouke’s main lab. After she closes the valve of her own lab, so she can safely work on the valve in her lab, Angela walks to the main tanks next door. There she opens the main valve to let the nanites flow to her own laboratory, so she can use them for her portable Caduceus staff prototype. Before she starts she adds a special faucet to main pipes and opens the valve to her lab. As the day goes Angela makes increasingly progress making the lab her own place.

“Verdammt! Is it already 6 ‘o clock?” She talks to herself as she looks on her watch. “I need to get back to Fareeha.”

Angela cleans up quickly. Tools are put in their place, and she turns off all other equipment before she instructs Mìmir to shut down the lab and lock the door. As an extra precaution, she uses the palm scanner to put in the last lock on the door. The scanner beeps confirmatively and a few heavy bars slide in front of the door.

“Cannot take any chances.” She thinks to herself as she walks towards their apartment passing Bouke in the corridor. They share a short greet and go on their way.

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Fareeha is taking a shower as she hears their front door close she shuts off the shower quickly dresses, opens her to-do list on her phone and gets to work.

Ok Fareeha, you have to make this perfect, she thinks to herself as she grabs her coat. “Let’s go!” She grabs her phone and sends a message to Bouke who is working on the other side of the city.

Fareeha puts her phone back in her pocket. She leaves their apartment and locks the door and moves to the parking garage of the base. She uses the key to locate the car and as she presses the unlock button a dark grey Volvo station-wagon lights up. As she sits down in the comfortable seat, Fareeha presses the start button and the fusion engine starts and she drives off.

“Mìmir? What is my closest destination on my list?” Fareeha asks and the AI comes to life on the dashboard.

“I recommend the farmers market. It is located a bit into city central and according to my databanks it has most of the food items you need.” Mìmir answers politely.

“Thanks. Please put the location in the navigation system and keep me updated on Dr Ziegler’s location.”

“Affirmative Captain Amari. I will keep you updated.”

The AI disappears, and the market appears on the navigation system including a reserved parking spot. Fareeha grins and shakes her head – it is amazing how organized the city yet still free the city feels.

After a short trip she finds the bustling farmers market which is teeming with activity. She parks the car in the designated parking spot but before she exits the car she calls Mìmir one more time.

“Mìmir, can you come here for a sec?” Fareeha and the AI appears on the mid console of the vehicle.

“How can I help you Captain?”

“Can you make sure the parking fee is paid?”

“This license plate has been registered at the parking division of the local police department. Dr Brink is currently waiting for the registration of your motor bike since its license plate is not a Dutch one. My apologies.”

“No problem, Mìmir. Bureaucracy still exists.” Fareeha says as she exits the car.

As she walks past all the stalls, she sees all kinds of goods and products the merchants were selling. Their calls for attention rang out as they each fought for Fareeha's attention to their goods none of them aware that she is unable to understand their words. She opens the app where Bouke supplied her with a list of items to get in Dutch and English.

Thanks to her experience in Egyptian markets Fareeha has no problems with haggling for the goods, even with the mild language barrier, and after a short while she has all the items she needs and walks back to her car. After loading her bags in the boot of the car she leaves to her next destination.

“Mìmir, what is the next stop of our shopping spree?” Fareeha asks the AI as she straightens her sunglasses.

“According to your list the next stop is at the home decoration store 20 kilometres south to get table wares and small decoration items like candles.” The AI sums up from a list on the display in the car. “I have the route set and you should arrive shortly with current traffic conditions.”

“Alright, give me something with guitars and open the sunroof.” Fareeha grins as the music starts playing. She exits the city centre and enters the freeway through the city.

Soon she reaches the home decoration store and tries to find a parking spot, but all seem to be taken. After a few laps around the parking lot she finds a narrow spot next to a massive SUV who appears to be taking up two parking spots. Asshole, she thinks to herself, but she still expertly parks her car next to the bigger car and turns off the engine. As she enters the store she is greeted by a service desk employee with a friendly and genuine smile.

“Excuse me miss?” Fareeha asks. “Do you know where the candles on this list are?”

“Ah preparing a romantic dinner with a special man?” The woman asks friendly.

“Not exactly no.” Fareeha responds a bit embarrassed. “You see, I’m not really into men if you know what I mean...”

The woman immediately turns red in shame and furiously apologises. “I am terribly sorry ma’am. I did not know…”

“No problem miss.” Fareeha reassures the woman. “It’s ok. I am used to it by now.”

“Ok, again my apologies and let’s get you your items!”

The attendant guides Fareeha through the various aisles of the massive store and soon they enter an aisle that already gives a romantic atmosphere. With scented candles, hard light decorative lamps and other items displayed, the woman guides Fareeha to her desired items. As they walked up to the registers the attendant halts and turns to a surprised Fareeha.

“Here. Take my employee discount!” She hands her a card “As an apology.”

“That is not necessar-“ Fareeha objects but is quickly cut off by the woman.

“I insist.” The attendant interrupts.

Seeing that the attendant is not going to take no for an answer, Fareeha takes the card and uses it as she pays for all the items she bought. After, she hands it back to the woman and holding on her items carefully in her arms, bids the woman goodbye, goes back to her car, and heads off to her next destination.

“Ok, where to next my holographic friend?” She addresses the AI again as she starts the HoverCar.

“One last stop at a meat breeder and this one is a bit further away. Dr Brink told me that he had some exceptional experiences with this one. He made it clear that this breeder has outstanding quality and nearly no waste.”

“Let’s go then!” Fareeha rubs her hands in anticipation. “How far is the drive?”

“This one is about 30 minutes driving from here as its just outside the city. Shall I put on your usual playlist?”

“Yes please, let it rip.” Fareeha grins as she puts on her sunglasses while the music starts. She drives off to the highway again and exits the city area towards a small town to the north of Amsterdam. She enters a small industrial area where she drives up a small but cosy store attached to a large industrial building.

“Captain Amari?” Mìmir suddenly appears. “It might sound strange, but the owner of this store does not speak English.”

“Then how am I supposed to finish my order?” Fareeha objects.

“I can assist you with that. They know my designer quite well and they are not scared by my appearance. The phone in the glove department has a hologram projector which allows me to interact with them more easily.”

Fareeha picks up the phone and exits the car to walk to the store. As she walks in the store an elderly woman smiles at her.

“ _Welkom bij Anne en Frank’s Vleeskwekerij, waar kan ik u mee helpen?”_ [1]

“ _Hallo Anne!”_ The AI greets friendly “ _Deze jonge dame wil graag de producten op deze lijst bestellen maar ze spreekt helaas geen Nederlands.”_ [2]

 _“Geen probleem!_ The woman responds and after she read the list she walked to the back. After a short wait she returns with a paper bag filled with her order, Neatly packed and with some spices too. Fareeha accepts the bag, pays for her purchase, and says goodbye to the woman in her best (worst) Dutch.

Fareeha and the AI exit the store and head back to the Omnium with all the items she needs for a romantic dinner. She floors it to her home and parks the car in the garage downstairs. As she passes Marieke in the living room she tosses her the keys of the car. Marieke shoots her a confused look and continues reading her journal as the Egyptian soldier already sped off.

“Mìmir!” Fareeha barks to the AI. “What is Angela’s status?”

“She is calmly working on her laboratory Captain. I predict she will not leave the lab before you are ready. I will keep you updated.”

“Thank you.” Fareeha responds as she opens the door. She enters the kitchen of the apartment and starts preparing the food. As she warms up the oven, the stove has finished preparing and she starts with the salad and the appetizer. While she tosses the salad, she sings along her favourite songs playing on the stereo in the living room, playing air guitar on some of the solos dancing while she prepares the dinner table. Bouke later joins her so he can help her prepare the main course. Fareeha admits that she is a good cook but not as good as the more experienced scientist next to her.

“Captain Amari?” The Omnium’s AI asks, interrupting the music “I wanted to inform you that Dr Ziegler has started cleaning her laboratory of her activities and I predict she will be here in about 25 minutes.”

“Fuck!” Fareeha curses and rushes to finish the dinner table. “Almost done! Bouke, could you get changed to your suit?” The man simply nods.

She quickly finishes the table and runs to their bedroom to get changed into her gala dress and her new prosthetics. Mìmir informs her that Angela is locking her lab and is heading towards the apartment. Fareeha rushes to finish lighting the candles and she quickly starts a romantic dinner playlist. She sits down at the table just as Angela opens the door who is obviously surprised and immediately gets beet red to the scene in front of her.

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“Fareeha!” Angela squeaks as she covers her mouth in surprise. “What is this?!”

“I thought we could have a romantic evening together. You have been working hard these last two weeks so you deserve this!”

Angela can feel her face refusing to become pale again and she struggles to find words let alone have any leave her mouth. The only thing she can do is jump in her girlfriend’s strong arms while crying tears of happiness. All off a sudden the tone of the sobbing darkens and it appears to have changed to fearful crying.

“I’m just so scared that everything will go downhill as while we seem to have a holiday but I know we are here for a very serious reason.”

As she calms down while her girlfriend puts her darker hand on her head while slowly petting her braided hair.

“I know you are scared, ya amar.” Fareeha says softly while gently kissing the softly sobbing Swiss. “But I will not let you come to any harm and you can trust the others here too. You are safe here.”

“I’m just frightened of the things Moira will do to you too.” Angela sniffs as she wipes her eye. “I don’t want to lose you because someone else has a grudge on me.”

“This is something we will worry about later.” Fareeha hushes as she wipes gently at her tears. “For now, let’s get you dressed appropriately and have dinner.”

Angela nods and gives her girlfriend a kiss on the lips, one intended to be a simple peck of gratitude, but Fareeha has better plans and sticks her tongue in Angela’s mouth who instinctively returns the gesture. After they part she moves to their bedroom to get changed into some appropriate attire. As she gets changed she hears Fareeha setting up and the door open and a muffled male voice is also heard.

As she leaves their bedroom she sees Bouke in a three piece suit as if he is a waiter in a fancy restaurant. She also sees Fareeha sitting in her gala dress at a table with lit candles and a slight blush on her face as she looks down to hide her reddened face. Soft romantic music plays from the stereo in the living room as the fire crackles softly with a warming glow while the sun begins to set giving the room a warm yellow shade which compliments the glow of the candles on Fareeha’s face.

“This is perfect, Liebe” Angela sighs out truly touched. “Thank you so much!”

“Anything for you Angie…” Fareeha smiles as she turns her attention to Bouke who is waiting patiently. “Could you bring us our first course?”

“Certainly Captain Amari.” Bouke bows politely as he walks towards the kitchen of the apartment. He picks up two plates, which are decorated with all kinds of vegetables, and two bowls of steaming soup. The women thank the waiter-gone-scientist, who moves back to the kitchen to finish the main course, and they in turn enjoy their first course in comfortable silence. As Angela finishes her soup, she notices Fareeha staring with a dopey smile on her face. This image made her giggle slightly and like clockwork her girlfriend’s face turns Bordeaux red.

After they have finished their first course Bouke takes away their empty plates and shortly brings the main course. Each of the two plates has something different.

“Here you go ladies!” Bouke announces proudly. “A personalised dish prepared by yours truly.”

As he sets down the plates Angela immediately notices the amount of personal memories that return from the dish.

“Fareeha! How did you know this is one of my favourite dishes?!” Angela squeals happily.

“Bouke told me about it and he even offered help with preparing it.” Fareeha says, and smirks as she sees Angela using all her strength to prevent herself from inhaling the Swiss dish, but as Bouke puts her dish in front of her she has to work hard to keep her dignity and not scarf it down as well.

“Ladies, As Captain Amari wanted to make this extra special I wanted to make a unique main course. I checked significant people in your lives for your favourite dishes.” Bouke announced polite with a straight posture.

“Dr Ziegler, as you were growing up with me I already knew your favourite dish would be the Swiss local of Zürcher Geschnetzelte and for you Captain Amari I called your father in Canada to discover that your favourite dish is indeed the Canadian meat pie Tourtière!”

“Bouke this looks amazing! How did you pull this off?” Fareeha compliments amazed. “You went to such lengths to get us this?”

“Anything for you two lovely ladies.” The older man says with a bows and a flourish of the hands. “Enjoy!”

Bouke moves back to the kitchen to prepare the dessert while the women enjoy their meal in silence. As Fareeha finished her Tourtière she put her hands on her stomach but they quickly moved to her mouth to prevent her from belching loudly. Angela appears to keep her dignity while eating her own dinner and as she finishes her last bite she notices Fareeha staring with a smile on her face.

“What are you looking at?” Angela asks the staring Egyptian in front of her as she wipes her mouth.

“An angel who appears to be sitting in front of me.” Fareeha responds dreamily. “I am still unsure how I got so lucky meeting you in that desert after being shot in that desert.”

“Life finds a way and I am so happy it brought us together.” Angela says as she takes a sip from her wine savouring the flavour.

As they finish the second course Bouke clears the table and brings their dessert.

“Here you go ladies.” Bouke starts as he sets down the desserts in front of them “Homemade ice cream based on my mother’s recipe.”

Angela takes in the colourful work of art in front of her. She sees orange, yellow, bit of red and a lot of white. Across the table of hers she sees Fareeha’s sorbet which has mostly blue colours with some yellow and a bit of brown.

“Allow me to explain these masterpieces to you.” Bouke stars with a polite smile. “For Dr Ziegler I chose three different flavours of ice cream depicting the colours of your Valkyrie suit. Done by using vanilla, lemon and orange ice cream in an 80/10/10 ratio.”

“These look wonderful!” Angela gasps as she has to contain herself as she is ready to tear apart the icy treat. “What about Fareeha’s?”

“Captain Amari,” The scientist turns his attention to the Egyptian soldier who is eager to dig in too. “Your sorbet is composed of mainly blueberry ice cream next to a small amount of Orange and finished with chocolate sprinkles.”

“I know you are a great cook, but this?!” Fareeha says surprised. “I know it’s an interesting combination for me but it’s my favourite! Hard to find too…”

“It has been my pleasure captain.” Bouke bows refusing to break character “I will leave you two alone and if you need anything else just call me and I will be here.”

Bouke leaves the apartment with a quick pace and leaves Angela alone with Fareeha.

“Oh wow this is really good!” Fareeha quips amazed as she scoops in the last bits of the blue ice cream. “He needs me to teach how to make this stuff!”

“Even though he is still a very busy man he has a soft spot for good food. Something we both can learn from.” Angela giggles but there is a hint of shame in her voice.

“Haha yeah…” Fareeha laughs as she rubs the back of her head.

They finish their desserts and call Bouke back so they can clear the table. As their host walks in he is joined by Frank who appears to be elated, as usual, and is wagging his tail enthusiastically.

After they finish clearing the table, Bouke takes all the dishes to his own kitchen to be put in the dishwasher while the women have the rest of the night to themselves. Angela deposits herself onto Fareeha who just sat down on the comfortable leather couch as Frank lays down near Angela huffing content as he puts his head on her thigh. Angela softly pets the large dog’s surprisingly soft dark fur. She is surprised that it is this soft as it’s just his summer fur.

As the evening progresses both the women start to feel the wine cloud their mind and suddenly Fareeha gets up. She walks to Mìmir’s console on the wall and switches to “Private”

“What is it Liebe? Angela asks confused.

“Let’s go to the bedroom. I want you now…” Fareeha whispers in her ear with a soft moan.

Angela’s face turns blood red as she is picked up by her obviously horny girlfriend in bridal style and gets carried to their bedroom. . The door is closed and the only sounds heard by Frank are the muffled moans of the two lovers in the next room and the sound of the white owl in the window next to the fire place in the living room watching the empty room before flying off in the clear night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some obligatory translations:  
> [1] Welcome to Anne and Frank's meat breeders, what can I do for you today?  
> [2] Hello Anne! This young lady wishes to purchase the items on this list but regrettably she does not speak Dutch  
> [3] No problem!
> 
> BIG thanks to Caleb Crow for the illustration for this chapter! Go check it out on their tumblr: [Caleb-Crow.tumblr.com](http://http://caleb-crow.tumblr.com//)


	5. Chapter Four: Tour day.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After weeks of preparations Bouke and Bob have finally scheduled a tour of the Amsterdam Omnium, but is it even possible for the birds to start their day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the late update. I had to take care of some IRL stuff and this prevented me from finishing this chapter. I hope I can return to the monthly updates again but no promises.
> 
> I want to thank [Valathe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valathe/) again for proofreading this monstrosity of a chapter.
> 
> Its also late for me and I am posting this.

The sun makes Angela wake up as it burns in her eyes. As they adjust to the light she sees Fareeha already awake but still in bed with the head part of her side of the bed raised while she reads something on her tablet. Angela turns around and sticks her head under the covers to block out the sun peeping through the gap in the curtains. Fareeha notices the movement in the pile next to her and as she looks to the endearing sight she has to smile as she pets the sleepy mess of blonde hair, blankets, and pale limbs to the side of her in bed. A muffled groan emits from the clump of Swiss doctor as Fareeha’s hand reaches the top of a certain bump in the blankets.

“Good late morning ya amar,” Fareeha smiles as she tries to peel away the covers, but Angela holds on so tight that Fareeha almost lifts her from the bed. This gives the Egyptian an idea. She puts away her tablet and moves slowly not to alert the messy mass of blonde woman next to her of her plan.

As she has put away her tablet to a safe spot she checks if Angela is still firmly attached to the blanket by giving it a small tug. After pale fingers refuse to let go, she is satisfied and gives the blanket hard firm yank and lifts the squealing Swiss woman on her side of the bed and on her lap.

“I said good morning ya amar.” Fareeha repeats as she gives her sleepy girlfriend a kiss on the head. Which in turn snuggles up to her with a sleepy whine.

“I hate mornings.” Angela squeaks with a sleepy voice while she buries her head in her girlfriends’ chest. Fareeha puts her arms around the still drowsy pile of Swiss.

“It is past noon, time to get up.” Fareeha moves in to give her pouting girlfriend a kiss.

But suddenly, their peace is interrupted by a large thud that shakes their entire apartment and it also manages to wake up Angela who now sits up straight as it made them both jump.

“Mìmir! What the FUCK was that?!” Fareeha barks to the AI.

“Dr Brink had another explosive accident as usual. Nothing to be concerned about. He is still in one piece and has already started cleaning up.” The AI answers calmly as it was business as usual making Fareeha let out a deep sigh.

“Ok, now that this mystery is solved we should get up because I smell breakfast.” Fareeha says as she gets up from bed but fails at first as Angela is firmly attached to her chest and refusing to let go.

“You know I will get up, if that means taking you with me like this, so be it.” The Egyptian woman growls to the Swiss who has a smug grin on her face. With a mighty heave Fareeha lifts her body with Angela still firmly holding on while squealing as they make a move towards the front door. As they stumble through the corridor to Bouke’s house both the women giggle like little girls and as they arrive at the kitchen they see Marieke still in her pajamas, humming a song with a loving smile as the morning sun shines through the windows and the glass door. There are some birds chirping as they are perched on the windowsill of the open window while a warm June wind plays with the curtains decorating the kitchen door to the back garden.  
It looks like she is making something that looks like large thin pancakes. Next to her is a pan with what appears boiling water judging from the rattling plate that sits on top of it even though there is already a large stack of pancakes on that plate.

“Good afternoon Marieke.” Fareeha greets the white-haired woman while she struggles to get Angela to detach. “Could you help me with this parasite I have stuck on my chest? It’s leeching my precious body heat.”

“I might have something…” Marieke giggles as she grabs an aluminium tin which read “ _Koffie_ ”

“I am afraid coffee isn’t going to do the trick.” Fareeha protests. “She fell asleep while I was walking her here-” But the older woman interrupted her as she operated a coffee machine in another room.

“This coffee is special! It is something that helped Angela through the first year of her time at the Swiss hospital.”

Marieke gets Angela’s mug from the cupboard in the kitchen and fills it with a coffee which has a strong aroma. As she holds the mug under the sleeping doctor’s nose she immediately lights up like a sleeping cat hearing a can of food being opened. Angela lets go of her girlfriend and accepts the white mug as she rubs her eye.

“I didn’t even know how much I missed this coffee.” Angela yawns as she stretches. “ _Eenhoorn_ Coffee is the best I have ever had, and it never fails to wake me up.”

“It smells strong.” Fareeha notices the intense aroma “It would probably walk out if you aren’t looking.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Angela shrugs as she cradles the mug in her hands. “But now I’m awake I smell something else that is delicious too!”

Angela makes a beeline to the stack of pancakes and nearly starts drooling over the baked treats. Fareeha shoots her drooling girlfriend confused look as she doesn’t think these pancakes are really that interesting but seeing Angela excited over a stack of pancakes makes her curious anyway. Marieke moves back to the stove and pours the batter in the skillet. After she lets the batter set for a few seconds she picks up the pan and throws the pancake in the air, expertly catching, but it is also flipped.  
Fareeha obviously sees the trick and watches in wonder how she keeps doing it without it sticking to the ceiling or even missing a single flip.

“Marieke!” Fareeha gasps “How do you even do this? It’s amazing!”

“Thanks sweetie” Marieke blushes with a giggle. “I have been baking pancakes longer than you have been alive, so I have experience.”

The older woman flips another pancake and Angela giggles as she sees Fareeha follow the pancake with an open mouth. She just takes in the view of her tall girlfriend completely baffled by something so simple as a cooking trick.

“Want to give it a try yourself?” Marieke says as she finishes the next pancake. “You don’t have to flip it with the pan, don’t worry.”

Marieke shows Fareeha how she normally bakes the pancakes. Starting at the batter, then when it’s about to be flipped she uses a spatula instead of flipping so Fareeha can copy. Fareeha scoops up a spoonful of batter just as Marieke showed her. As she pours the batter in the skillet Angela inches closer to take a closer look, but she sees Fareeha stick her tongue out in concentration. Angela quickly snaps a picture before the other woman has any idea.  
The batter bakes well but Fareeha gets a bit impatient and as she wants to flip the pancake she rips the fragile batter. She retries and when she succeeds flipping this one she keeps a close eye on it but is slightly distracted by Angela hugging her from behind.

“Easy ya amar.” Fareeha sputters. “You don’t want me to ruin this one too.”

“Don’t care” Angela mumbles as she kisses Fareeha’s neck. “You just look irresistible when you’re concentrating”

Fareeha struggles to free her arm but eventually manages to get it loose from Angela’s strong embrace. She puts the pancake on the stack and decides to make a couple more until the batter is all depleted.

When Fareeha finishes the last pancake the three see Bouke walk in together with Bob, both leaning on each other. They both have black faces from the soot, giggling like little girls as they enter the kitchen.

“ _BOUKE WILLEM BRINK!”_ Marieke scolds in Dutch “ _What were you doing in there? You made us all jump from our beds! And you Bob! What did you do?”_

 _“My apologies ma’am”_ the Omnic apologises _“Bouke and I were preparing a showcase for the tour we were planning for our honoured guests, but we had a…”_

“Sliiiight rapid disassembly of our exhibit” Bouke continues in English making a pinching gesture with his fingers. “We got a bit carried away and now I need to renovate that room. No regrets though! THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! Bob got blown to the other side of the room and nearly rammed a fucking hole in the wall!” The large man roars excitedly.

“You know you now have to clean that mess right.” Marieke sighs as she shakes her head. “You too Bob!” She yells to the Omnic who tries to sneak out as she grabs his shirt and reels him back in. “Tomorrow you two are going to clean the mess you caused! You Dr Brink, are going to take a shower and you Bob, you are going to clean yourself because you both look like you crawled through a chimney!”

Both the scientists move toward the upper floor of the house with shuffling feet. As soon as Marieke hears the shower and the polishing machine, she relaxes and picks the large stack of pancakes from the counter and puts it on the table in the kitchen.

Angela picks all kinds of sweet toppings from one of the cupboards and as soon as she deposits herself in a chair she grabs a pancake and buries it in powdered sugar.

“You didn’t change one bit Angela, always the sweet tooth.” Marieke giggles. “It’s a miracle that your teeth haven’t fallen out yet.”

“Gwood dethal caaw” Angela mumbles with her mouth full. “I always take care of my teeth unlike a certain Egyptian.” Angela looks at Fareeha as she struggles swallowing the big bite.

“I usually go for a run after I get up and then I forget to brush my teeth.” Fareeha sputters.

Angela does not get the chance to respond as Bouke and Bob walk back into the kitchen both squeaky clean and Bob even shines in the light of the morning sun. As they stop at the table where the women are sitting at they strike a heroic pose in front of Marieke who started giggling at the antics of her husband and his best friend.

“Mrs Brink!” The two chant in unison. “Are we sanitised to your satisfaction?”

“Yes gentlemen.” Marieke returns with a medieval maiden bow. “You are sanitised to my satisfaction but your sanity itself needs some work.” As the older woman finishes her sentence she started giggling at the dissatisfied groans the two scientists emit.

After they finish pouting they join the three women for breakfast/early lunch and Bouke has to keep himself from talking too much as he appears to be wanting to talk about the tour he and Bob have planned. They all enjoy Fareeha and Marieke’s pancakes in silence but Bouke seems to be trembling of excitement and his wife constantly looks at him with a scolding look to prevent him from spoiling the surprise as he is known to lose his self-control when he talks about his interests.

After they finish eating, Angela looks at the still massive pile of pancakes left and turns to Marieke.  
“We still have a massive stack left and I am unable to fit in more. Why did you make so much?”

“A friend of ours is going to take these to the nearby homeless shelter where they will be given to the few homeless we have here.” Marieke explains as she packs the remaining pancakes in aluminium foil. As she finished wrapping the pancakes, Mìmir notifies them that the person from the homeless shelter is at the door. Marieke hands him the still warm stack including the plate, the man gives her a friendly smile, thanks the white haired woman and leaves to his van.

“Now that is taken care of we can get started on the tour!” Bouke rubs his hands in anticipation. “I suggest we clean up, get changed and meet in the lobby.”

As they clean up the table and load up the dishwasher, Fareeha and Angela move to their apartment to get changed out of their sleeping clothes and into something more casual. Bouke and Bob finish cleaning the kitchen and Marieke finishes the dishes.

“I’m going to take a quick shower before we go to the lobby.” Fareeha says as they enter their apartment. “Not if I’m first!” Angela squeaks as she jumps to the bathroom but as she can almost grab the handle Angela gets picked up over Fareeha’s shoulder and nearly thrown on the couch. Before she could get up Fareeha already locked the door and turned on the shower, but she forgot to lock the door to the bedroom.

Angela quietly strips and enters the bathroom through the other door while Fareeha is washing her hair. Before she can finish rinsing her hair Angela slips in the shower with Fareeha and splashes a cold glass of water on her back.

“Oh, hey AngelaaAAAAH!” Fareeha yelps as the cold water hits her exposed back. She suddenly feels Angela’s body against her back with a firm hug.

“If I can’t have a shower first then we do it together.” Angela murmurs from behind the tall Egyptian woman. “I actually have a question, Liebe.”

“What can I do for you, ya amar?”

“Would you help clean my implant?”

“Of course, I will help you. Why wouldn’t I?” Fareeha chuckles as she turns around to grab a soft brush to clean the metal parts connected to her girlfriends back. Angela hands her a special cleaning liquid to not damage the tissue connection to the implant. Fareeha catches a short and soft moan coming from her girlfriend while she cleans the implant with ease.

They finish their shower session as Mìmir notified them that Bouke and Bob are waiting in the lobby, get dressed and join Marieke who is also on her way to the lobby, where they see a large holographic model of what seems to be the entire Omnium’s multiple floors.

They see the Omnic and old man pair in their lab coats with their backs straight. but the latter is holding a stereotypical tour guide sign to show who they must follow. His shit eating grin makes the three women chuckle in unison. Bob also seems to be proud of himself despite him lacking facial features.

“You two are really proud of yourself, aren’t you?” Angela says as they inspect the hologram.

“Well we would be even more proud if a certain meathead didn’t blow up one of the samples as a ‘test’ of how good my invention is!” Bob growls jokingly as he punches the older man next to him in the arm.

“OW! That was my human arm! Next time hit my right arm.” Bouke hisses as he rubs his still organic arm. “Anyway, let’s get started. Me and Bob have been working on this for a while and I hope you all like the tour!”

Bouke gestures them to follow him to the base entrance. As he uses a palm scanner to open the heavy doors which give way with a low metallic groan. He explains that the hand palm scanners are reading three things of their hands. The hand print itself to open the door, but it also reads heart rate and body temperature. Bob explains that if there is an elevated heart rate, that is outside the margin, the base will trigger a silent alarm but, if there is no pulse and lowered body heat it will trigger an audible alarm together with keeping the doors sealed.

The doors open, and they enter the main hall of the Omnium where the fusion reactor is based. Angela and Fareeha gawk at the massive spherical structure of the room with glass windows on top to let in daylight but a low humming sound gives away that there is a shield generator located somewhere near the windows. In the centre of the circular trapezoid structure is a spherical machine located, according to Bob this is the main fusion core of the entire base. He explains that this reactor powers most of the city, but it can supply the entire city with power if the need arises.

“Restoring this piece of engineering was quite the challenge. It was severely damaged but not beyond repair.” The scientist explains as walks around the steel sphere. “I did make some modifications to keep it more stable and I learned from previous experiences…” Bouke gestures with his organic left hand to his carbon fibre prosthetic. “To keep your fuel storage AWAY from your reactor just in case a bunch of IDIOTS suddenly decide to hate each other and shoot up the damn place.” He growls as his face reddens with anger. Marieke walks over to calm him down as he balls his fists again. This seems to help as the large man calms down and straightens himself again as he walks over to a computer terminal.

“You might want to take a step back because it’s gonna get a bit charged in here.” Bob says as his friend pushes a few buttons. Before Bouke finishes the operation of the console the Omnic hands the women a set of darkened goggles.

“Things are going to get bright for a moment so wear these if you don’t want to get blinded.” The scientists warn them as they put on a pair too.

“Bouke! How did you manage to do this?!” Fareeha asks him clearly amazed. “Containing a fusion reaction is already hard enough and you just put it on display?!”

“The magnetic field within the reactor is still maintained thanks to a graviton engine in the core. It allows for some cool light shows but it is quite power hungry.”

“But why?” Angela asks with a raised eyebrow “This is completely unnecessary and a waste of resources.” She winces subtly at her reaction and directs her attention to the pair who are closing in to the opened reactor which emits a low rumbling hum as the graviton engine keeps the superheated plasma in an artificial gravity field. Bouke explains that the graviton engine was given to him, by the Russian government, in exchange for some of his fusion tech. Bouke starts the closing procedure and the group can take off their goggles so they can move on with the tour.

“Well, this hall is mostly to house and monitor the reactor.” Bob continues as they walk around the reactor which is closed again to resume power production. “In the back is the console for the heat exchangers to convert the special high-grade coolant to useable steam to run through the turbines. If you follow me, I’ll show you the monsters.”

The group lead by Bob moves to a cargo elevator and the Omnic punches in a code. After the many digit code was entered they started to move down at a snail’s pace but steady none the less. The doors open to reveal another massive hall where four gigantic blue multi-cylinder structures are situated in pairs of two with all kinds of tubes and cables attached to them. Fareeha and Angela quickly cover their ears for the noise emitting from the blue constructs in front of them. Angela wants to ask Bouke and Marieke how they endure this, but she sees them wearing ear protection. Bouke gives them an apologetic smile and hands her and Fareeha a set too. As they put on the earmuffs Bouke’s voice is heard through speakers as if they are headphones.

“My apologies ladies, I forgot to give you ear protection.” Bouke says as he finishes connecting the headphones. “In front of you are the four main turbines that convert steam to electricity.”

“Why do they make so much noise!” Angela screams unaware of the microphone in front of her mouth.

“You don’t have to yell. I can hear you just fine.” Bouke winces as Angela’s voice bangs through his head. “Anyway, these turbines are connected to special super-conductor generators that provide enough energy to supply the entire city of Amsterdam”

The group follows their guides past the massive steel machines. Fareeha puts her hand on the side of one of the turbines and as she feels the sheer power of the steam and the metric ton of hardened steel that spins at incredible speeds. The vibrations make a shiver run over her spine. Bob tells them that each turbine shaft weighs around **250 metric tons** _(just over 55 thousand pounds)_ and rotates around 3 thousand times per second.

Fareeha being an experienced engineer listens with great attention to the scientists talking with passion about the mighty machines in front of them, Angela sees this, and the sight makes her giggle with Marieke because how Fareeha is just gawking at the massive turbine. Bouke notices this too and he smirks as he walks over a console next to one of the inactive turbines.

Just as the Egyptian puts her hand on the silent turbine, it suddenly opens. Seeing this happen makes Fareeha shake her head in amazement as the gleaming metal turbine appears nested in the bottom part. With a sparkle in her eyes she looks at Bouke and Bob. As if they could read her mind, they both nod at the same time and Bouke walks over to her to give her a boost so she can look at the massive but still fragile turbine shaft. She feels the smooth surface, of a massive turbine blade, but she could not recognise the metal itself and has never seen such a perfect mould.

“What kind of metal is this?” Fareeha asks curious from her position on top of the turbine. “It isn’t something I have seen or worked with before.”

"That is because the blades aren’t made of an ordinary alloy, Fareeha.” Bouke answers. “A decade ago a friend of mine discovered a new metal in a crater somewhere hidden deep in the African rainforest. He named it Vibranium for its amazing ability to absorb vibrations and it is near indestructible.”

“Vibranium by itself does not like high speeds but when alloyed with tungsten it is the perfect material for these special turbines.” Bob adds as he joins Fareeha at the blades as she inspects the spotless metal.

That is because the blades aren’t made of an ordinary alloy, Fareeha.” Bouke answers. “A decade ago a friend of mine discovered a new metal in a crater somewhere hidden deep in the African rainforest. He named it Vibranium for its amazing ability to absorb vibrations and it is near indestructible.”

“Vibranium by itself does not like high speeds but when alloyed with tungsten it is the perfect material for these special turbines.” Bob adds as he joins Fareeha at the blades as she inspects the spotless metal.

“It is amazing! It feels so smooth but still alien.” Fareeha gasps as her hand gently strokes the massive blade. “Think of the applications of this metal! Syringe needles that never bend or break! Armor which cannot be penetrated!”

“Hold your horses, Fareeha!” Bouke stops the soldier from getting to enthusiastic “Although Vibranium is near indestructible, it is also very heavy and toxic to the body when inserted.”

“That’s a bummer. It was just too good to be true…” Fareeha says, disappointed while she jumps down from the turbine, so it can be closed again.

She underestimates the height she was at, causing her to bump into Angela, as she fails to land properly. Angela attempts to catch her girlfriend, the sheer velocity coupled with Fareeha’s weight causing them both to topple to the ground. As they lie on the concrete floor, their eyes meet. Angela is visibly flushed and Fareeha notices heat rising to her face too.

They get up, dust off their clothes, and join the others as Bouke finishes the closing procedure of the turbine. He re-engages the magnetic bearings which allows the turbine to spin without any resistance which would still be present with ball bearings which were used until just before the Crisis.

The turbine is sealed with a satisfying hiss as the pressure is put back on. Some hydraulic latches firmly lock the halves together to prevent any efficiency loss, Bouke explains as he guides the group back to the elevator. As the elevator door closes Bouke gestures that it is safe to take off the hearing protection since the noise levels have dropped to safe limits. The scientists guide them past the fusion reactor to another wing of the base.

This wing seems to be the oldest addition to the base as it has signs of wear and the lighting fixtures seem an older design, Fareeha deduces as she looks around the tall ceiling held up by steel beams. The signs above the doors have both English and Omnic texts on them and she just thinks that they are translations since she cannot read the robotic text.

They move along the long corridor to a set of glass sliding doors where they see a host of tubes, hoses, hydraulic arms, cranes, and other metal working tools. Fareeha’s engineer’s heart starts beating faster as the doors slide open and she sees all the equipment, tools, and other gadgets.

“This is my workshop,” Bob starts proud, puffing his chest. “This is where I work on the small bits of the reactor, but I also try figuring out what made my kind go haywire. I just hope I can prevent it from happening ever again.” Bob suddenly has a hint of sorrow in his robotic voice. He leads them along many smaller rooms which appear to hold dissected Omnics and even some still working ones. The functional Omnics have red lights instead of the standard green or blue like Bob’s and some make animalistic sounds while crawling along the floor and walls.

Fareeha looks at Angela next to her and she sees pity in the blue eyes of her girlfriend. She looks at some of the Omnics in the glass cells and they all look crazed in their movement. She turns to Bob and she sees him looking at one Omnic in particular.

“Why are all these Omnics locked up?” Angela asks Bouke as Bob leans on the main window of a larger cell.

“These are all Omnics still infected from the Crisis.” Bouke answers with worry in his voice. “Bob has been working hard to find a cure for them, but to no avail. We have it quarantined, and he is not at risk for infection.”

“But what is so special about the one in the larger cell?” Fareeha asks worried. “It’s much larger than the others and seems more comfortable too…”

“THAT” Bob joins in “is…or was…my wife.” The Omnic scientist pauses a moment as he tries to regain his senses. “Ever since she got infected I have been working tirelessly to find a cure for her. I am so close and soon I will be able to cure her but sadly just her specific case of the infection.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Bob,” Angela says as she puts her hand on the Omnic’s shoulder. “But sadly, my expertise is with humans so I’m afraid I can’t help you…”

“Thanks for the offer Dr Ziegler.” The Omnic nods as he turns away from the cell. “But this is something I need to do myself.”

“I understand.” Angela nods. “Best of luck to you.”

He leads them to another room where two large tanks are located. One has a glowing yellow fluid which is named “Blazing Pyrotheum”. The name intrigues Angela and she asks Bob what the yellow liquid is. He explains that it is extremely hot and because it is a self-sustaining reaction it will be at a constant temperature of 1570K (1296.85 ℃ or 2366.33 °F). This is used to fuel the forges in the entire base.

Next to the yellow fluid is a vibrant blue goo in another tank. The edges of the tank have frost on them indicating to Fareeha that the goo is insanely cold. The thought of two of these contrasting liquids next to each other makes a shiver run down her spine. Fareeha tries to find a sign with the name of the liquid but it appears to be missing or not put up yet.

“Umm,” Fareeha asks the scientists. “What is this blue stuff called? I can’t see a name anywhere and this frost has intrigued me.”

“That is a new coolant, a friend of us made for my prosthetics but it is also an excellent reactor coolant.” Bouke answers as he walks over to the cylindrical tank and disappears behind the glowing structure. After a short moment the he appears with two items. One of which is a bunch of bananas and the other seems to be a strange cylinder.

“The stuff you are looking at is a more viscous variant of the Cryotheum that has been used in the Ecopoint in Antarctica.” Bouke starts as he walks over to a large faucet on the tank. “The reason it is so viscous it because it is colder than liquid nitrogen and the molecules of Cryotheum are much larger too.”

Bob brings him a bucket where he pours the contents of the cylinder in. As soon as the liquid exits the cylinder it starts evaporating shrouding the concrete floor in vapour. Fareeha concludes that this fluid is liquid nitrogen judging from the vapour that stays low to the ground. He dips a banana in the liquid nitrogen with his right hand which, according to him, is protected against low temperatures.

“Well, every one of you know this trick.” Bouke chuckles as he lifts the banana out of the liquid nitrogen and shatters it on his leg. Bits of banana flying everywhere. Angela looks at him with a raised eyebrow like _was that necessary?_ Seeing Angela’s face, Bouke put up the most shit eating grin he could make and gets up to walk to the tank with the strange substance. He turns the faucet and a light blue, what apparently is supposed to be a liquid and it slowly drops in a Styrofoam cup where it softly hisses because of the warm air in the room.

“This stuff over here is very dangerous” Bouke starts as he moves the blue liquid up so the others can see it up close. It has a slight shimmer as if there are billions of silver particles diffracting the light and reflecting it in different angles. Angela unintentionally moves her hand to the liquid, but Bob stops her before she hits it with her finger.

“I would not do that Dr Ziegler…” Bouke says as he moves another banana to the tiny droplet of blue liquid. As soon as the banana touches the substance, the fruit gets frozen in an instant and shortly after the banana explodes.

Seeing this makes Angela retract her hand violently while imagining the image of her hand exploding. The mental image makes a shiver run down her spine. Bouke explains that this “ _Gelid Cryotheum_ ” has a temperature of 34K (-240.15℃ or -400 °F) which makes it colder than liquid nitrogen. Bob tells them that the viscosity of the Cryotheum makes it an excellent coolant since it doesn’t evaporate as quickly as liquid nitrogen, but it has some dangerous properties which makes it less common than liquid nitrogen.

Bouke puts the blue goo back in the tank, which drops in there very slowly, while Bob cleans up the broken banana pieces.

After the mess has been cleaned to Marieke’s satisfaction they leave the laboratory and move on to the last wing of the base. Again, they pass along the reactor towards another pair of steel doors. These ones were made of a darker metal. According to Bouke, this metal is the strongest construction metal that can be used for general construction and tool use.

This time Marieke uses her hand on the scanner to open another set giant doors.

\---------------------------------

They enter a hallway that has a completely different look than the rest of the base. This wing has red and yellow carpet on a heavy wooden floor instead of concrete. The walls are white plaster with wood on the bottom half and on the ceiling, warm Hard-Light fixtures illuminate the hallway with a cosy glow.

“Umm, Bouke? Where are we?” Angela asks confused. “This sudden shift of decoration is a bit unnerving coming from the industrial style of the base. Are we even allowed to be here?”

“Angela, this is the latest and so far, the last wing of the base and it is the most domestic wing besides the house. This is where I spend most of my free time.” The scientist says as he opens a set of heavy wooden doors and with a grand gesture he bellows: “Welcome to Sunset Studios!”

As he opens the doors Angela’s and Fareeha’s mouths drop to the floor. In front of them they see a long corridor with some branching hallways. They walk along towards a door at the end, and pass a couple of doors and one of which catching Fareeha’s attention.

She emits a loud gasp and bolts inside the room behind the door. Angela tries grabbing her girlfriend’s hand to prevent her from doing stupid things but, the view in front of her makes her heart nearly run over with affection for Fareeha squealing over a wall of guitars behind Hard-Light walls. Pressing her face against the glowing material like a little girl in a candystore and the thing that this little girl liked was a display case full of acoustic guitars in all shapes and sizes.

As Fareeha leans on the Hard-Light wall she suddenly feels it move upwards. The wall slides from in front of her and falls face first on the floor. She turns around to see Bouke with another shit eating grin on his face. When she realises what happened she has calm down to not start hyperventilating. Angela notices this but is confused why these guitars are so special. She asks Bouke, but he directs her to Fareeha.

“Um, Liebe. What is so special about these guitars?” Angela asks her girlfriend who is reluctant to even come close to the instruments as if they are extremely fragile and old.

“I will tell you what’s so special about these guitars.” Fareeha answers with glistering eyes. “One of these acoustic guitars is a rare Egyptian guitar that my mother had. She basically taught me to play on that one!” She points at a light coloured wooden guitar tucked in a corner.

“Why don’t you give it a try then.” Bouke says as he hands her the instrument.

She gently cradles the old instrument in her hands and reads the golden Arabic and English writing on the neck: _Zeeyad Acenath_. She gently strokes the strings of the guitar and reluctantly looks at Bouke with an asking look. The old man nods once and hands her a pick.

She accepts it with a beaming smile, gets in a comfortable position and she starts playing. First simple melodies but they get increasingly more complex after a while. After she reaches a point that her intense playing of the ancient instrument scares her, she stops suddenly. Angela who was visibly enjoying her girlfriend’s music looks at her with a concerned face.

“What is wrong Liebe?”

“I don’t really want to continue…” Fareeha answers as she puts down the guitar. “I am afraid I could damage this irreplaceable instrument.”

“Fareeha Amari,” Marieke starts with her soft gentle voice. “I saw you light up when you played guitar in that bar and again here with us. Please do continue!” Marieke hands Fareeha the guitar with a warm assuring smile.

She accepts the guitar and carefully starts again. After a few minutes Bouke stands up and walks to the wall and picks up an acoustic bass guitar and joins in. They play a couple of short songs together until Bouke uses his right hand to create a music stand and shows her a couple pieces of paper with music notes on them.

“I hope you know this song?” Bouke says as he re-tunes his bass.

Fareeha nods with an assured look on her face and starts playing. As Fareeha plays through the song once Angela jumps a little from the sudden change of complexity. As soon as Fareeha starts the song again Bouke joins in with his bass and they continue the song together.

Angela sees both their faces light up like a star as they play together. The pair finishes the song and after the last note Fareeha just sits there, silent and with tears in her eyes. Angela sits down next to her and gently rubs her girlfriend’s shoulder who can't hold in emotions anymore and starts sobbing.

“What is wrong, Liebe?” Angela asks softly while slowly petting the Egyptian soldier.

“It has been so long since I have touched this particular brand of guitars. The memories of my mother and my youth just became too much.” Fareeha sobs softly as she rests her head on her girlfriends’ shoulder. They both suddenly feel a pair of soft feminine arms around them as Marieke gives them a gentle hug. Bouke and Bob stay on a distance since they both tend to ruin the moment with their strength and non-organic arms.

Fareeha regains her senses and after she wiped tears from her eyes she gets up and hangs the guitar back to its original spot. Bouke closes the wall back up and locks it firmly. A hiss comes from a valve somewhere hidden in the wall indicating the display case is pressurised. Fareeha guesses it is to protect the antique instruments.

They leave the room and head towards the doors near the end of the corridor. Bob opens another set of heavy doors and they enter one of the most unique rooms Fareeha has ever seen. Complicated equipment sits in wooden racks while a massive desk, with all kinds or knobs, buttons, and faders, is sitting proudly in the middle of the trapezoid shaped room. Fareeha takes a closer look at the interesting console and tries to make heads or tails of what everything does but fails miserably as it makes her head spin trying to comprehend the labels of some buttons.

While Fareeha inspects the console in the middle, Angela looks around at the decoration of the room. She notices the walls are soft and covered with an intriguing fabric. As she follows the walls she sees large speakers mounted in the wall of the corners of the room and in the centre above the glass window that leads to a massive dark room.

“Welcome in the control room of the large and main studio of Sunset Studios.” Bouke starts as he sits down on an office chair he pulls from behind the console. Angela and Fareeha deposit themselves on a leather couch in the back of the room while Marieke and Bob just stand in the back. “This room is the place where most of the equipment is housed and operated as recordings are recorded and mixed.”

“This all looks near antique!” Angela quips as she inspects some of the racks. “I have seen some of these devices in some old technology magazines that I found in museums!”

“You are correct some of this equipment is considered antique.” The scientist rolls over to a rack that holds a couple of black devices with lit ‘displays’ that show a thin needle.

“The rack you see in front of me holds one of the oldest pieces of equipment I own. This one is from the early 1970’s so it’s nearly 110 years old!”

“If it is that old, how did you manage to keep it in working condition?” Fareeha asks him furrowing her brow. She inspects the antique equipment with her trained engineer’s eyes and on the outside, she can’t see any work done.

“I inherited the original schematics of one of the engineers at the company before they were destroyed including lists of parts and their properties. Bob is an excellent electrical engineer and he basically maintains these devices.”

“Ok. I get it.” Fareeha nods as she moves back to join Angela on the couch. “I’d like to see that desk from the inside once too. It looks complicated as hell.”

“It is and its due for some maintenance, so you can join Bob and I if you want?”

“Really?!” Fareeha gasps as her engineers’ heart starts beating faster “I’d love to join you!”

“Then it’s settled, Fareeha joins us next week as we clean the console.”

Fareeha shakes the older man’s hand vigorously who later moves over to a control panel on the wall and pushes a few buttons. A series of clicks can be heard from behind the panel and the whole control room comes to life. The large desk’s faders suddenly move by themselves. The lights on the equipment in the racks light up in all kinds of colours. They hear a faint beeping coming from a small room next to the control room and Bouke walks to it grumbling He mutters something that sound like curses as he grabs his phone and punches in a phone number.

“ _Marwin, did you look at the computer of Studio One?_ ” Bouke says over the phone. “ _You did? Well it’s just beeping now…. Ok. I will use my laptop for now. Giving the birds a tour_ ” Fareeha looks at Angela confused as she understood the Dutch word, but she makes a flying gesture with her hands which clarified the situation to Fareeha.

“ _Ok, I’ll see you soon then. This thing is due for replacement anyway. Gonna talk to my supplier._ ”

He disconnects the call and grabs a laptop which he connects to a rack with some cables. While it boots up he turns again to the women who are getting increasingly confused. The laptop emits a short beep as a confirmation that it is connected. Bouke rolls over to a patch bay where he plugs in a couple of cables and then he moves over to the console and presses a green button that seems to indicate PLAY.

Suddenly, the many meters on top of the desk start moving dancing happily in regular intervals indicating there is music playing. He gestures the women over who walk to him confused.

“This thing can do a few cool tricks as every knob, button and fader is motorised, so they can move themselves to the desired position.”

He enters a few codes on a terminal embedded in the desk and suddenly, the whole desk starts moving. Faders move to their position, Knobs turn themselves and buttons light up indicating they are engaged. Both Angela and Fareeha stare with open mouths at the moving parts.

“Technology still baffles me sometimes.” Angela sighs.

“This machine is older than I am, so the tech is not new.” Bouke chuckles as the console calms down. He wheels over to the laptop on the racks and checks if everything is ready to go. Judging from the low content hum coming from the larger man, he is satisfied with the state of the console and turns to the women who are still gawking at the movement that just happened in front of them.

“The movement is all fine and dandy but what about a little listen to the room and speakers installed here?” Bouke asks as he presses STOP on the console. “I suggest you two go sit behind the console and listen to some music that has been recorded here.”

The women settle themselves in the comfortable leather office chairs and roll themselves in what Bouke called the “Sweet spot”. He moves a bit to the back of the room as not to interfere with the sound.

First a soft classical piece starts, Fareeha is immediately impressed with the detail of the sound coming from the large speakers embedded in the soft walls. They both are blown away with the clarity of every instrument heard. After the song ends something different starts. The song seems to be an early 2020’s style dance track. Bouke tells them that the producer of this so he could use the speakers instead of using the whole studio. After the song ends Bob addresses them once more.

“The next song is actually not even out.” He says with a hushed voice. “It is a song I wrote with the others and which we recorded here.”

“Wait, you have a band with Bouke? Who are the other members?” Angela asks, confused. “I know he plays bass, but I am missing the rest of the members…”

“It is true that I play bass, but Bob here is our synthesiser player and sometimes rhythm guitarist, Marwin is our drummer and my brother is our lead guitarist and singer. Sometimes my wife joins us with certain softer songs since her Belgian accent doesn’t have much power, but she can sing real soft and sweet.”

“Wait, your wife is Belgian?” Fareeha asks confused. “I thought she was Dutch.”

“I am Flemish to be exact” Marieke says with a smile as her soft voice lingers in the room. “I still have my Belgian passport, but I don’t need it as much.”

“Anyway, enough about my wife’s nationality.” Bouke interrupts eager to continue with the tour. “I have one more song prepared and Marwin should be here soon to fix the computer.”

Angela presses PLAY, and the song immediately starts with a fuzzy guitar and some fast-paced drums which is later joined by a bass solo, but this is played live by Bouke himself as he apparently has plugged in his bass and just joined in with the song.

When the guitar solo has come Fareeha could not contain herself and starts playing the air-guitar along with the solo. Angela also refused to stay put and joins in with a simple dance. As the song finishes Angela jumps in her foster father’s arms.

“That was awesome!” She squeals excitedly “And Fareeha seemed to enjoy it as well.”

“I did, I wish there was a way I could join you four…” The Egyptian guitarist says as she slumps back into her chair.

“I might have something for you at the end of the tour.” Bouke grins as he gets cut off by Mìmir.

“Sir, Thalia is at the door with new art for the gallery.”

“Thanks, Mìmir, I’ll be there in a second.”

The older couple leaves the control room and Angela and Fareeha are left with Bob who just sits on the leather couch in the back.

“Um, Bob?” Fareeha asks the Omnic reluctantly. “Is it possible we can play some of our own music over these speakers?

“Oh! Yes, of course!” Bob says as he struggles to get up from the overly soft couch. “Let me take care of that. You want to use your phone?”

“That would be fine yes.”

Bob hands them a cable they can connect to the headphone output of their phone and as Fareeha presses play her favourite song plays from the speakers in front of them. Angela puts up her favourite song next and as that one finishes Bouke and Marieke return with a young woman in her mid-20’s.

“Angela, Fareeha meet Thalia.” Bouke introduces the women to each other. “She has been decorating my hallways here with art she made herself or works she sells from her art gallery.”

“A-are you Fareeha Amari?” The young woman asks nervously.

“Yes, I am Fareeha Amari. Nice to meet you!” She greets with a warm smile as she sticks out her hand. The dark-haired woman grabs the hand with both hands and gives it a firm shake.

“My name is Thalia and I am a big fan of you and Mercy!” Thalia starts, chipper. “I even have a poster of you two in my room.”

“I remember the photoshoot for that poster!” Angela claps in her hand excitedly. “That was a fun day!”

“Indeed, it was. They could cut down the makeup though.” Fareeha says with a slightly agitated growl. “I looked like a dress up doll.”

“I loved the way you two looked together!” Thalia says chipper. “And I have a question, if I may?”

“Sure, go ahead!” Angela smiles as she shakes Thalia’s hand.

“Can you sign a drawing I made based on your poster?” She hands the women a drawing where they have the same poses but traditional Chinese dresses.

“These look amazing Thalia!” Angela gasps. “I’d be happy to sign these for you!”

“They are indeed beautiful. I love the accents on Angie’s eyes.” Fareeha says as she jots down her signature on the drawing and handing it to her girlfriend who hands it back to the bubbly woman who gratefully accepts the drawings. As she sees the signatures she bounces on her feet while a squeal escapes from her.

To finish the Meet n’ Greet, Thalia, Angela and Fareeha join together for a picture which is taken by Bouke. She accepts the phone with a beaming smile and promises to cherish the picture forever. After they said their goodbyes Thalia bolts of with a slight skip in her pace.

“Nice girl.” Fareeha sighs.

“You were the same, Liebe.” Angela giggles. “Although a bit more flighty.”

“That is true,” Marieke chuckles. “Especially around Dr Ziegler.”

Fareeha does not say anything but is visibly embarrassed while the rest of the group share a laugh at the expense of the pouting Egyptian. After the laughter has died down Bouke gestures them to follow him to the next room.

They pass through a tiny corridor until they hit a glass door to a dark but seemingly giant room. Bob instructs Mìmir to turn on the lights revealing a tall and long room with a sloped roof, the floor is again hardwood while the walls are made of different types of wood and arranged in unusual patterns and shapes. Smaller booths cover one of the longer sides which are equipped with glass doors. According to Bouke these booths all have different acoustics and are designed for their own purpose.

Angela walks around the tall room and is just in awe of its sheer size but the room sounds like a cosy living room until Bouke presses a few buttons. A set of large panels on the ceiling turn around, changing the sound from the cosy living room to the acoustics someone would expect from such a large room. Fareeha is full of wonder for the feats of engineering that happen in such a small time frame.

After the women were allowed to explore the room Bouke calls them to him in the middle to tell them something about the place they are in.

“Welcome to the live room of the main studio. Here most of the recording has been done for the sound tracks of popular films like; ‘Six-gun shooter’, ‘Some Like It Bot’ and ‘Junkenstein’s revenge’”. Bouke explains as they walk along some signed posters by all the lead actors and musicians.

“Olivia Rai.” Angela reads on one of the posters. “I remember Mei talk about her in that blog she wrote. Did she really record here?”

“Yes, she did. Most- if not all of the dialogue in that movie has been replaced with recordings, HAL-Fred Glitchbot wanted the sound as clean as possible.”

“Are the lines recorded in this room?” Fareeha asks curious but suspicious. “I already heard an echo when the acoustic panels were in their first position.”

“The lines were not recorded in here. This is for different purposes like choirs and orchestras. Dialogue is recorded in a small booth connected to the control room of a much smaller studio.”

“Now I get it and are we going to visit this studio too?” The Egyptian says with her brow furrowing.

“Sadly, all other studios are being used today for projects I am not allowed to show or share.” Bouke says apologetically. “I kept this one free for today, so we could at least show off the flagship to you, my honoured guests.” As he finishes the sentence he bows down with a grand gesture but struggles to get back up due to his age and his back acting up.

“Now you have seen the studio and maybe you will see it in action too if I am recording things here myself.” He continues as he straightens his aging back. “Let’s move on to the rehearsal rooms and then we will conclude the tour at the _exploded_ room…”

They exit the large recording room and move past the control room and on to the corridor at the end of the long hallway. This one is a lot darker and less fancy but has a cosy atmosphere none the less. As they pass along several doors where all kinds of muffled music is coming from behind them.

“I didn’t know there was so much activity in this base. Isn’t this a top-secret location?” Angela asks worriedly. “What happens if some of these people wander into the main part of the base and disrupt research?”

“That is why I installed palm scanners to keep these people out. Most of them aren’t even aware of the giant nuclear reactor next door.” Bob chuckles with his robotic voice and his arms crossed. Fareeha can feel the pride drip off him, which is no easy feat to do due to him lacking facial features.

“Anyway, we have arrived at the largest and currently only available rehearsal room for today.” Bouke says as he opens a, what appears heavy, door revealing a typical rehearsal room where three walls are plastered with posters of popular bands which are all signed by what appear to be the members. The other wall is covered by a thick layer of stickers of all kinds of bands and artists.

“Welcome in Room One!” Bob says as he throws his arms up nearly hitting his friend. “This is where Bouke and I practice with our band and sometimes Marieke joins us too for some songs.”

“I only sing in Dutch though.” Marieke says, obviously embarrassed. The reactions of the others make Marieke turn beet red under the dyed white hairs of her. “I am sorry, I just don’t feel comfortable enough with it to sing in English.”

“Maybe if Marwin comes in time we can play the song you wrote?” Bouke says as he puts his arm around his still red faced wife. As if something knew what he was saying, his phone rang. Marwin arrived at the studio with a replacement of the malfunctioning computer. Knowing she can't get out of this one she leaves the room to pick up a guitar of her own.

When the men return Marwin already has drum sticks in his hands together with a glint in his eyes, indicating he is ready to play some drums. Bouke plugs a bass guitar in an amplifier and Marieke returns with a black acoustic guitar while Bob picks up an electric guitar.

As Marwin settles behind the drumkit Bouke connects some microphones and sets them up so they can be heard over the drumkit in the smaller room.

“Ok,” Marieke starting to get a bit nervous. “This [song](https://youtu.be/N0OLEgc-Glk) is about the first weekend me and Bouke were on a short holiday alone.”

“Yeah, back then we didn’t have much money and Angela’s education took most of it so we settled in an old beach house near Zoutelande. That is a beach town in the south-west of the country.” He summons a holographic [Map](https://goo.gl/maps/1Z1De6Fafd82) of the south-western part of the Netherlands and points at a tiny village at the sea.

“That is where you went on holiday?” Fareeha says as she squints to find the speck on the map. “There isn’t much to see.”

“My parents had a beach house there. It was beaten up and old, but it was theirs and our getaway from the city.” Bouke answers with a sigh. “We brought alcohol and food, so we could just enjoy the time alone.”

“I am intrigued but I probably won’t be able to understand any of the lyrics.” Fareeha says as she sits down on a leather couch next to Angela. “Maybe a certain Dutch speaking Angel, that is sitting next to me, is willing to translate for me.” Fareeha gives her girlfriend a soft kiss who gladly returns the gesture.

Noticing that Bouke wants to start, Marwin hits the drums a bit too loud and it startles both the women. They look at the drummer as if they could kill him with their gaze alone, but he merely shows a shit eating grin as if he got what he wanted. Both the women make the ‘I am watching you’ gesture toward Marwin and he sticks out his tongue in return.

“Are you three done being childish or do I need to ground all of you?” Marieke says with a stern growl. Both the women and the man behind her apologise and Marieke finishes tuning her guitar.

As they play the Fareeha immediately feels the love that the song portrays. She doesn’t understand any of the words, but the setting and the atmosphere certainly reaches her and Angela who has put her head on Fareeha’s shoulder and nuzzles her neck.

Fareeha notices that Marieke’s soft Belgian accent is particularly suited for this song next to Bouke’s more harsher voice. She looks to her side where Angela is focussed on the song itself while she is attempting to understand the words but fails in the process.

As the song finishes Bouke reels in his wife to give her a passionate kiss on the lips. Marieke tried to keep hold of the microphone stand but they both fall over before she can even get a firm grasp on it. As they lie on the floor the older pair giggles like they were young again. This scene makes the rest laugh with them as they struggle to get up.

“Ugh I hate these old bones. You’re sure you don’t have something against aging, Dr Ziegler?” Marieke groans as she leans on Bob to get up.

“Sadly not. Aging is still a thing today.” Angela shrugs with a grin.

“Please work harder. I am sick of these old bones…”

“I have other things to do at the moment, Marieke. Sorry.”

“HMPH. Ok then. I won’t ground you for now.”

Angela doesn’t say anything besides folding her hands and bowing while making a ‘thank you’ gesture with her lips. While the women were arguing, the men have cleaned up and are eager to move along.

“So, are we done now?” Fareeha asks confused. “Tell me there is more?”

“There is ONE thing more besides our exploded room.” Bob says as they exit the wing where the studios are located. The group moves toward the main hall with the reactor again and they suddenly stop in front of a massive floor elevator.

“Mìmir!” Bouke shouts to the AI “Open protocol Three Echo Three Eight Delta Two Three Echo Four Three!”

“Voice recognition accepted. Please present your biometric ID.”

A different kind of palm reader rises from the floor and both Bouke and Bob present their hand palm to the scanner. The scanners beep as a confirmation and then a glowing yellow line indicates an elevator has been made available.

“Now we go down to the most secure part of the base.” Bouke says as they get on the elevator. “The reason will become clear very shortly.”

The massive elevator starts moving down with a loud groan and slowly they move down into a dark room with another steel door. Both Bob and Bouke use another set of palm scanners to open one more set of giant steel doors.

As the doors open Fareeha and Angela see something they did not expect. These steel barriers hide a massive armoury where all kinds of pistols, rifles, and other weaponry are put on display behind Hard Light windows.

“Welcome to what I call ‘An unfortunate necessity’. Ever since I managed to repurpose this old Omnium I have been under attack by all kinds of groups, including some rebels and Talon also did an attempt on my wife’s and my own life.”

“But why the FUCK do you have so many weapons?!” Angela shouts angrily. “I thought you were against senseless violence!” She storms toward the much larger man who nearly ducks for cover because of the angry Swiss Doctor. “You raised me a pacifist and you have an entire arsenal now?! PLEASE explain to ME why.”

He shoots a worried look to Fareeha shrugs with an unknowing face and then back at the snarling Swiss. After a short moment he straightens his back, gets on level. “I will explain to you why, but I need you to calm down first. Your judgement is clouded by rage at the moment.” He says with a surprisingly calm voice, but emotion still lingers. “These weapons and tools that are here in this bunker are all for my own protection. As you know a brilliant mind can’t sit still and needs something to work on.”

He guides Angela to a set of chairs where they can talk. He puts his hands on her shoulder and gestures her to take a seat.

“I found these weapons in this exact bunker.” He says as he picks a cigar from the chest pocked of his shirt. “These weapons contained the fusion tech I use to improve millions if not billions of lives.”

Fareeha, Bob and Marieke stay cautiously in the background trying to avoid the wrath of the Swiss. Fareeha has some experiences of when her girlfriend got angry when it came to weapons and their use.

“And why didn’t you destroy these things?” Angela asks calmed down, but anger still lingers in her voice. “You have got to have a decent reason to keep these in here. What if Talon got their hand on that massive thing over there” She says as she points at a multi barrelled laser cannon. “Think of the damage that abomination can cause.”

“I know you are concerned with the wellbeing of innocents but that ‘abomination’ helped me to retake the city and this very base.” Bouke answers as he takes a drag from his cigar. “These other weapons are mostly here for the defence of the base. My brother has designed one too and he works for Helix. You will meet him soon enough.”

“But that still does not justify you having these weapons.” Angela retorts still steaming. “These are all tools that bring nothing but misery.”

“These tools of misery took the city back from machines who did not see or hear reason! The same machines you saw in Bob’s lab. Those infected Omnics are incapable of seeing the concept of a ceasefire! They sadly have to be destroyed or locked up until a cure can be found.” Bouke hisses annoyed.

“They really do not see reason?” Angela asks intrigued but still angry. “Have you even tried!?”

“Yes, we sent one of my best negotiators to their ‘camp’ but he was killed as soon as he got into sight of the Omnics.”

Angela gasps worried. “I just really dislike weapons and their use.”

“That is ok.” Bouke sighs relieved. “Hell, Talon is mixed but even they do not see reason. As one of their leader says, ‘Only through conflict we evolve’.” Bouke quotes that with a mocking tone in his voice. “That asshole wants to start another war that will hurt and kill millions of innocents and I will not stand idly by.”

“I have fought one god program myself, maybe they are to blame again this time?” Fareeha chimes in from the back. “I have seen what they can do to an Omnic friend of mine.”

“That may be true but, in Russia the Omnics are going rogue again too and there is no god program to be found anywhere that is not destroyed or contained” Bouke adds while taking another drag from his cigar.

“Most of my research results have told me that the infection is local and not by a god program.” Bob explains.

“This is why we think Overwatch is still a viable entity to fight this anomaly.” Bouke adds as he gets up from his chair.

“Are you going to join Overwatch?” Fareeha asks carefully. “I know Winston would be glad to have you as his second in command.”

“Thanks for the confidence but I am not fit for leading a worldwide organisation and I am still not sure on joining Overwatch just now. I have my research here too.”

“That’s a shame.” Fareeha says, visibly disappointed, she had started to like the old man

“It is what it is. Who knows what the future holds.” Marieke says with a smile.

“Now we have talked about the issue at hand, I hope we can all continue the tour since we are nearly done.”

“I understand your reasoning, but I cannot agree with it.” Angela huffs, disappointed that her foster father has a point. “Please tell me you will not use these to hurt innocents.”

“Hey, you know me better.” Bouke says as he opens his arms for a hug. “I will never hurt innocents. I keep these weapons for protection of the ones who are incapable of protecting themselves.”

“You sound like Fareeha, but much older.” Angela teases with a grin while returning the hug. As she accepts the embrace of the larger man she gets lifted off her legs and nearly crushed by his arms.

“Let’s move along. We’re nearly done for today.” Bouke says as they part allowing Angela to breathe again.

The group led by the two scientists pass along a set of display cases showing all kinds of weaponry and all showing the same yellow cylinder. Bouke explains that these yellow cylinders are miniature fusion reactors. Capable of fuelling an entire household for a whole day. He demonstrates the flexibility of these ‘Laser’ weapons by taking apart the weapon in three multiple parts: Barrel, handle and stock, scope or sight, the focus lens/suppressor, and main capacitors. Changing it into a rifle, pistol, automatic weapon, shotgun, and sniper rifle.

After Fareeha had a few shots with them and found them useable enough they moved on to Bouke’s own personal weapon. The giant multi barrel laser cannon or as he calls it the “Gattling Laser” seems like a set of laser rifles tacked on a central rotating shaft with a central power supply fuelled by a larger fusion cell called the ‘fusion core’. He explains that the fusion core is still experimental and can be unstable if the safety mechanisms would be damaged.

“That explosion this morning. Was that a fusion core failing?” Fareeha asks worried. “Because that was one hell of a bang.”

“No, that was not a fusion core exploding but some other substance I found in some old logs. I will explain as we get there.” Bob explains as he hands one of the fusion cores to Fareeha. “The one you have in your hand is fresh and will be used in a freightliner next month.”

“Wait. These things can fuel a freightliner?” Fareeha wonders as she inspects the yellow cylinder the size of a small soda bottle. “But where does the electricity come from? It surely can’t fit in here to fuel such a large ship.”

“The cylinder is just the reactor and its basic functions to keep the reaction in an idle state.” Bouke explains as he hands a core to Angela. “The core just supplies heat for the generators that are on the external systems and that brings us to the last item of this bunker.”

Bob presses a couple of buttons and activates a set of hoists that lower an impressive suit of armour. It has a mean look with the visor of the helmet which is just decoration according to Bouke. The suit is hung on chains that are hooked into special rigging points on the shoulder pads of the steel suit.

“This is the suit of armour I used to help take back the city.” Bouke grins proud as the massive suit is slowly lowered to the ground. He explains that this suit is heavily armoured and designed to be fully mechanical to prevent hacking by enemy Omnics like the one in Korea. To support his aging bones, he designed an exo-skeleton to enhance his strength and stability with his heavy weapons. It is also almost as strong as Reinhardt’s armour and allows him to jump from great heights without breaking his legs.

“So, this suit is basically Reinhardt’s armour but then smaller and doesn’t have a jet engine on the back?” Fareeha says as she walks around the hulking suit. “Can I try it on?”

“The suit should automatically link up to the wearers neural controls from a set of sensors near the neck nerves so yes, you may try it on.”

He shows the bubbly Egyptian woman how to open the suit by turning a handle around the fusion core and how to enter it.

“Ok, as soon as you have both feet and both hands in the suit, it should adjust itself to your body.” Bouke explains as he helps Fareeha enter the suit. She does as he says and enters the suit. She feels a slight tingling in her neck as the on-board computer links up to her brain and quickly a HUD appears, showing her vitals, core charge, a compass and even an ammunition counter when she got a rifle put in her now massive hands.

“Wow, this thing is amazing.” She laughs through a speaker in the helmet as she flexes to try the actuators. Bouke wheels in a metal beam that seems impossible to lift without help. He gestures her to pick it up and reluctantly she walks over to the heavy object and lifts it with ease like it weighs as much as a piece of wood. As she shows off her strength everyone has to stand back as to not get hit by the metal beam.

“This suit is amazing! I am curious how it fares against those Talon fuckers!” Fareeha cheers as she gently puts down the beam and exits the suit. “It can use some ventilation like in my Raptora suit.”

“It is still a work in progress and I call it a hobby project.” Bouke chuckles as he attaches the hooks to the suit and instructs Bob to lift it back up. When the suit is safely back up in the ceiling of the bunker Bouke gestures them to follow him. The group does not notice Marieke leaving them as she walks back to the studio wing.

“We are now off to the last part of our tour.” Bob says as he closes the armoury.

“To the lab where you blew yourself up this morning?” Angela pokes the older man’s arm.

“Yes, and I regret nothing!” he says proud. “Because that was awesome!”

“What did you even experiment with?” Angela asks worried.

“THAT, is something we will tell you as we get there.” Bob says as he makes it sound like he’s grinning since he, still, lacks facial features.

The group walks along another corridor which leads to the main kitchen and they soon smell burning metal and hair. As the smell gets stronger they enter a large room with an interesting machine which has a huge gaping hole in the middle of it.

“THIS, Is the laboratory where I wanted to test a new sensitivity measurement machine but for calibration I chose the wrong substance.” Bouke says embarrassed.

“What did you use, Dr Brink?” Angela scolds worried. “Don’t tell me you used the ‘stuff’ I know you like.”

“Well, we did use the ‘stuff’ and it gave one HELL of a bang too.” Bob says reluctantly proud.

“Now I know why this thing went up in flames.” Angela sighs as she inspects the wreckage.

“Ok, NOW I want to use what the FUCK you two messed with to cause this mess.” Fareeha growls, obviously impatient. “Please tell us or I might join this machine as I might explode from curiosity.”

“Ok, ok, easy, no need for more explosions.” Bouke says as he tries to calm the shaking Egyptian down. “The substance used to calibrate this machine is…” Bob makes a drumroll with his fingers to raise suspension.

“Azidoazide Azide (A.A. for short), the most explosive compound in the world.” Bouke says as his Omnic friend stops the drumroll.

“Oh no you didn’t!” Angela facepalms as Bouke high-fives his friend. “No wonder this went up in pieces!” Both the scientists share a laugh and they show a small flask labelled “EXPLOSIVE” levitating in a glass box. Fareeha noticed that the box is equipped with a special graviton generator to keep A.A. in a stable position which could be for later testing with the substance. She reluctantly goes near the glass box afraid to destabilize the sensitive chemical, since she knows that A.A. can decompose explosively when even breathed at.

“Well, this would be the grand finale of the tour where Bob and I would show off this invention he came up with in that metal skull of his.” Bouke says as he knocks on Bob’s head who of course does not feel the knocks. “So, we will wrap it up now and have dinner until we pass out.”

“BUT FIRST!” Marieke yells from behind them. “I have something that Captain Amari might enjoy!”

They turn around to see a glowing Marieke with a red guitar in her hands. “Since you were so happy playing in a band, me, my husband, and the other band members talked, and we would like you to join us for as long as you are here.” She hands the speechless woman the guitar, Who cradles the instrument in her scarred hands.

“An original American made 2016 Gibson SG!” Fareeha gasps. “I-is this for me?”

“It is yours to keep too. We are just happy to see that our foster daughter has found such a great girlfriend, protector and partner in life, we couldn’t think of anything besides this.” Bouke continues but struggles as the tall woman jumps him sobbing of happiness.

“Thank you all so very much and I will take good care of this unique instrument!”

“Alright, Fareeha. You take your new guitar with you to your apartment as I am starving, and we still need to prepare dinner.” Bouke says as he hands her a guitar case.

The group leaves the still smouldering laboratory towards the kitchen. Where Marieke and Bouke start preparing dinner while Angela watches some TV, Bob takes Frank for a walk who is eager to follow his owner’s best friend.

As the sky starts turning red in the, to Angela, wonderful evening in June, she snuggles up to Fareeha, who joined her on the couch, while the fire calmly crackles in the fireplace enhancing the cosy atmosphere in the warm living room as Angela slowly drifts off into a light sleep.

Just as she closes her eyes she gets gently woken up by Fareeha and as Angela’s vision sharpens Fareeha tells her that food is ready, and they should join the others for dinner. Angela rubs her eyes as she follows Fareeha to the kitchen and immediately smells something that she very much loves.

“Oh my god!” She quips surprised “I didn’t know you were making Lasagne! Why didn’t I smell it?”

“You fell asleep on my lap and drooled on my chest, but it was too cute, so I let you sleep.” Fareeha chuckles as she shows the stain making Angela beet red from embarrassment as she tries to hide her face. The others share a laugh too and dig in while Angela joins them when she recovers.

As they eat they do not make a sound besides their breathing as Marieke’s cooking is yet again a masterpiece according to Angela and this upsets Bouke greatly as he claims that he did work on the dish too, but his wife shuts him up quickly when she tells the others that he just passed out on his dinner table chair, earning a chuckle from the other women

After dinner Bouke and the women go to the living room to watch some TV but quickly Angela, Fareeha and Bouke pass out on the couch as the women lean on the sleeping scientist. Seeing this endearing sight, Marieke quickly snaps a picture and returns to her recliner to continue reading but as she walks back she sees a beautiful white snow owl as it stares at her. She waves at the animal but does not respond besides ruffling its feathers. With the bird watching her, Marieke gets back to her recliner and sighs as she sees the sleeping trio while she opens her tablet.

Later in the evening when Fareeha and Angela have gone to bed, the tired Egyptian starts dreaming. She is playing on stage on her new guitar. Angela next to her singing, Bouke on the bass next to her. As she looks to the crowd she sees all kinds of versions of Angela, her standard blonde is most common but she also sees her with raven black hair and even pink and red hair in between. “Let’s hope this lasts for a while!”. With that she lets out a giggle while still asleep unaware that she is watched by the same snow owl that has been visiting them for the last few weeks.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to have a chat with me about ideas, the fic, me, or whatever else you can add me on Discord: TheCableGuy#1339
> 
> I am also looking for ideas for the next Bonus chapter that is coming after the next one after this. I am open for ideas for one day or parts of a day activities two lovers do.
> 
> Thank you for [Tams](http://tamsininmypants.tumblr.com/) for allowing me to use this masterpiece for my fic!


	6. Aliado inesperado

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What seemed to be a usual day in Amsterdam changed when an unusual ally presented themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from author:  
> Fuck adverbs!
> 
> Thanks to [Valathe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valathe/) for proofreading and editing this chapter!
> 
> I am sorry this took longer than usual, but this chapter introduces an Overwatch character I know very little about and has multiple tense, POV and perspective changes. It was challenging to say the least!
> 
> Art for this chapter has been made by:  
> [Cutieblueberry](https://cutiebluedraws.tumblr.com/)  
> [Cyanne](https://cyan-ne.tumblr.com/)  
> Cyanne also appears as Charlotte in this chapter!

Angela and Fareeha are working in Angela’s laboratory in the early morning, trying to integrate Bouke’s fusion technology with Angela’s Portable Caduceus tool. Thanks to Fareeha’s engineering degree they are making decent progress, but the circuits still burn out occasionally after prolonged use. The nanite output is still limited so it needs more work for the output valves to increase flow, but the valve keeps struggling with the strong flow, making the pumps overheat. Both the women let out an aggravated groan when another pump lets out a puff of smoke together with some sparks.

“I think we should stop for today…” Angela sighs as she takes off her goggles. “I’m going to take a short shower and grab a coffee.”

“Agreed, I want to go for a run anyway,” Fareeha says as she puts away her smoking soldering iron. “So, while you shower I go do a run with Frank and we’ll meet in Bouke’s living room. I think he wants to speak to us later today.”

The women walk towards their apartment and they each go on their separate activities. Angela strips down while Fareeha walks back to Bouke’s house to pick up Frank for their weekly run. As she drops her panties Fareeha walks in, dressed in her running clothes and with Frank in tow, Angela sees how flushed her girlfriend got at the sight of the naked Swiss.

“You like what you see?” Angela giggles as Fareeha regains her senses. “You know you’re ogling right?”

“I know, but don’t tell me you wouldn’t stare when there is a literal angel in front of you.” The Egyptian says as she gives Angela a kiss while closing her arms around her in a loving embrace.

“Charmer, I need to get to the shower. Weren’t you going to take Frank for a run?” Angela says as she points to the impatient dog who is eagerly waiting in the living room. The women share a quick kiss and Fareeha calls Frank with her as Angela turns on the shower. When the Swiss hears the door close she grabs her phone and puts on some music to which she softly sings along. It is something she noticed she has been doing more, slowly building confidence for her singing.

After Angela finished showering she gets dressed in her usual lab coat, black turtleneck, and some simple blue jeans. She re-ties her braid, which she has grown a fondness for, to clear out any loose strands of hair and heads to Bouke’s living room.

While she walks along the long corridor she hums the song she was listening while taking her shower and soon she enters the living room. Angela searches around for her favourite mug but fails to find it. As she settles with a different mug she has the feeling she is not alone, but she can't see anyone in the kitchen. Her ears seem to pick up a soft chuckle, but Angela is not sure if it happened or if she is Imagining things. After checking her surroundings for a second time she moves back to the kitchen counter to finish her coffee and she walks back to the living room, but as she enters the room she hears a sound behind her.

“ _¿_ _Qué onda_ _?”_ A Spanish voice asks behind her. Angela immediately turns around and looks straight at Sombra, the notorious Talon hacker, who gives her a wave with a mischievous smile. Angela immediately panics and acts as she deems fit.

“Mìmir! Code RED, Talon has infiltrated the Omnium!” She shouts to the AI, but nothing happens. “What have you done?! Why isn’t he responding?!” Angela slowly grows increasingly desperate since she has been caught off guard. She bolts off to their apartment but runs into Bouke who calmly hands Angela her mug filled with coffee and turns to the infamous hacker still present in the room.

“Olivia, maybe use a bit less stealthy way to introduce yourself.” The scientist shakes his head as he takes a sip. “Your espresso is still in the machine.”

Fareeha, who just walked in jumps in front of Angela and assumes a protective stance towards the Mexican hacker.

“Why is she here?! And why the fuck are you so damn calm!” Angela hisses toward the Dutchman who calmly hands the Talon agent her coffee. They both walk into the living room not saying a word but Bouke gestures to the now confused women to follow him. Olivia sits down on the couch while Bouke takes a seat in his recliner.

"Most of all, how do you know her name. How do you know her?!" Fareeha adds refusing to step away from the Swiss.

“When you two have calmed down, you can join us, so she can explain herself. Grab a coffee, a sandwich and let’s sit down at the dinner table over there.” Bouke points at the dinner table in the living room, the same one where Angela and Bouke told their story a few weeks ago. 

The three women sit down at the large dinner table in the living room while Bouke stays in his recliner to give his aching back a break. As they sit at the table they stare at each other for a while, not saying a word until Olivia breaks the silence,

“Well, this is getting awkward,“ She says softly while fidgeting with her hair.

“Awkward?” Fareeha hisses as she jumps up “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t break your neck right here, right now.” She growls as she approaches Olivia.

“Relájate amiga, I’m just here to kick back and lay low for a while. Didn’t even know you two were here before I popped in.” Olivia says as she tries to avoid the threatening Egyptian soldier.

“Right, because the infamous Talon hacker doesn’t keep tabs on every single Overwatch member,” Fareeha says while taking a step back as she sees Bouke looking at her angrily.

“Talon is a means to an end, nothing more. I have no intention of harming you, or disclosing your presence to anyone.” Olivia says as she adjusts herself on the leather chair. “It also allows me to keep tabs on other targets I have, like that club you and the doc are a part of.”

“And pigs can fly, sure. I refuse to stay under the same roof with the likes of you.” Fareeha growls as she stands close to the Mexican woman.

“Trust me, if I wanted you in trouble you’d very much be in trouble right now.” Olivia stands up to match Fareeha’s posture but quickly sinks back into her seat as Fareeha still towers over her small size.

“Trust you?! I have no fucking reason whatsoever to trust you. Even if you’re double-crossing Talon, that just proves you have no sense of loyalty to anything or anyone!”

“Will everyone please shut the FUCK up?!” They hear coming from the other side of the living room. “Angela, Fareeha, Olivia is my honoured guest. She can stay as long as she likes.” The older man says as he walks towards Fareeha to calm her down.

“How do you even know her, Bouke?” Angela asks carefully, not to further upset him.

“I think she should be the person to tell that story.”

Olivia looks around to the two women and the serious looking Bouke. He sighs and turns to his apparent friend, grabs a seat at the dinner table and takes her hand.

“Olivia, I trust them both with my and Marieke’s life.” He says as he gives her an assuring look. “Especially Angela.”

“You trust a lot of people, old man,” Olivia says, furrowing her brow. “Too many if you ask me. It almost ended in your death.”

“Yes, but these two…they’re different. If you give them a chance, you’ll see that you can trust them too.”

Olivia looks at the man and the, still angry, woman next to her. She takes a deep breath and a sip of her coffee. While Olivia prepares herself Bouke returns to his recliner to resume his reading but he keeps a close eye on Fareeha who appears to be very cautious and suspicious of his friend.

“My… _Sigh…_ my full name is Olivia Colomar. I was born and raised in Dorado, Mexico, and my parents were killed during the crisis. After that, I got taken in an orphanage. This is where my story starts.”

* * *

 

“Olivia! Olivia!” Aitana called, while I was sitting on a bench outside the orphanage. “Señora Navarro is going to open the new computer lab! Wanna come and check it out?”

It was nice to hear good news about that project. I got impatient. "It's finally done? Took them long enough. I want to find out who or what is responsible for the death of my parents.”

Aitana did not seem to hear the last part because she was already gone to the main building for the opening of this ‘computer lab’

“ _I hope it has some decent servers there I can utilise,”_ I thought to myself while I stood up from my comfortable spot in the shade of my favourite tree.

After arriving at the new ‘computer lab’ I saw the other kids waiting eagerly to get their hands on the new ‘toys’.

“Ah! Olivia! You’re here!” Señora Navarro says as I arrived at the ‘grand opening’. “I did not want to start without our computer expert!”

“Thanks, Señora!” I said while faking my enthusiasm. “I am also excited to see what you got for us!”

“I am sure you will enjoy what we have gotten thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous donor.” Ms. Navarro smiles while visibly glowing with pride. “Anyway, let’s get this lab opened so you girls can play with the new computers!”

Before she cut the ribbon a man walked in who made chills run down my spine. I did not trust this man, not one bit.

“I trust this guy as far as I can throw him,” I said to my best friend Eva who was standing next to me. “Something tells me this is the ‘generous donor’.”

“I guess by his size you don’t trust him at all! Look at this guy! He’s at least a hundred kilograms!”

"Duh, Eva, grown-ups say it like that, but don’t mean it lita-ltila...literally!” I said while shaking my head “We’re seven years old, of course we can't throw anyone.” I attempted to flex but nothing happened.

Eva looks at me confused. “Why would you even get close to that scary man?” I had to control myself not to facepalm to that comment and I just went along with it. Eva was a good kid but not too bright.

“Children, this is Señor Botín and he is representing the generous anonymous donor and he is going to officially open the computer lab!” Ms Navarro said while the creepy fat guy was seemingly looking around looking for someone, giving me the creeps. Our eyes meet and I thought I saw a glint in his one organic eye as he found what he was looking for.

“Señor Botín! Are you ready to officially open the Dorado Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos computer lab?” Señora Navarro calls proud. The man cuts the ribbon and all kids beside me rush in to see the new computers. I tried to stay nonchalant but even I was impressed with the technology in this room. I walked to a purple computer which had some sort of sugar skull printed on the side.

“You immediately found the purple computer I see.” A familiar voice called from behind me. “I take it that you will confiscate this one?”

“Hey, Pedro, nice to see you too.” I sighed visibly showing my discomfort. I did not like him one bit, always buzzing around me while I do schoolwork or research. “But why are you here? Computers do not interest you besides letting others make your homework.”

“What can I say, I got the looks.” The face he made almost caused me to gag.

“Can you please leave? I want to play around with this computer.” I said, hoping that Pedro would just leave me in peace and thankfully he did after ruffling my hair which I just got done. “If you do that again I will kick your face in. You know I know kung fu.”

“Yeah right, ever since you saw that twentieth-century movie you claim to know kung fu.” He laughed as he went to bother someone else.

With the help of this computer, which I over time modified to my liking, I could really put in an effort to find the ones who murdered my parents. The following years I wandered the shady parts of Dorado, questioning the local gangs and often manipulating them with information I stole from their mobile devices. After some time I used scrapped parts from broken down Omnics and old computers to construct my very first augmentation. It allowed me to gain access to sources of data much more quickly and efficiently. I took on an alias to protect my friends at the orphanage as I got deeper and deeper into the underworld of Dorado and was mostly hanging around with the notorious Los Muertos gang who was known to help LumériCo with their, at least, questionable practices. I have befriended a local hacker, where I hung out more and more, he helped me with networking, data collection and he even helped me to get an online alias. From then on I would do all my online activities as “Skycoder[1]”.

“Hey Rolando, can you give me my drink?” I asked the man while being lazy. “I can’t reach it.”

“Olivia.” The older man shook his head. “You are fourteen years old now. I am not your servant and besides, your legs still work compared to mine.” Rolando pointed at his wheelchair. I rolled my eyes because I know he is right. I rolled my chair over to the fridge and grabbed the can, took a large sip and continued my work.

During my time at Rolando, he and I would work together finding the truth but I would also help him cover his tracks as he was a bit careless and liked to leave ‘calling cards’ on servers of companies he got in. I kind of took that habit too but I was still careful. I

“Hey, Olivia?” Rolando called from the kitchen. “Did you manage to shake off those goons from that arms dealer?”

“Yeah, those idiots probably didn’t know what cardio was since I outran them within a kilometre,” I smirked as I entered another password. “AAAND I’m in! haha, I got you, you old bastard!”

“You finally got in that paedophile banker’s server?”

“Yup, I’m not liking it at all…” I grimaced at all the pictures I scrolled past in some of those folders. “Sweep, package and send it off to the appropriate parties for some good old revenge on that sick bastard.”

“Yeah, keep your contact with this stuff as minimal as possible.”

“Got it,” I giggled as I completed the packaging to be sent off. “aaaand BOOP!”

“You keep doing that. Why?” Rolando looked at me puzzled.

“It’s something I got used to doing.” I shrugged. “The package should be done by now can you confirm it’s sent off?”

“Eighty percent done, you can relax now,” Rolando confirmed as the progress bar on his screen filled.

“Yeah, I’m getting tired.” I yawned as I prepared to go home.

“See you around Olivia,” Rolando greeted as I walked out the door.

Everything went well for a long while. I turned twenty and I got recruited into the notorious Los Muertos gang. I got a message from one of their associates and joined their ranks. Not as a lowly fresh recruit since I had certain skills they apparently desperately wanted. They had something I wanted too. Because they were the largest and obviously the most notorious gang in whole Dorado, Los Muertos had a vast network in the deep dark underworld of my home city. I wanted access to that city and, by joining them I was sure to get it. I met up with one of the higher-ups in a dark alleyway. When I was perched on a rooftop I saw a group of Los Muertos. I spied on them for a while as they were setting up, meticulously checking all corners for what I figured to be microphones.

After the men were done with checking I hid again and jumped down on the other side of the building. After I found a nice dark corner I found cover and waited until they got impatient.

“Where is he?” I heard a voice say impatiently “We were supposed to meet half an hour ago?!”

“He said half-past eleven at night in this alleyway and the boss says this guy is an important asset,” Another voice said with growing agitation. “So be patient, the boss will kill us if we return empty-handed.”

“Yeah, fine.” The other said huffing. “Can you pass me the thermos with coffee? I’m getting cold”

It was too amusing to see these three bicker so, I sat there for a little while longer while they slowly were getting more and more anxious.

“Juan, it’s still twenty eight degrees. How the fuck are you still cold?” A third man said annoyed as he handed the former a thermos flask.

While those two continued arguing about the temperature, the one who appeared to be in charge spoke up again.

“Where the fuck is he? I hope we are in the right alley otherwise we’re dead meat!”

This was my cue to get out of hiding and introduce myself to these fine gentlemen. I got up from my hiding spot and snuck towards the bickering gang members.

“It has been forty five minutes now and I got another deal to go to afterwards. That hacker better is worth all this effort.”

“Looking for me?” I said while tapping his back. I almost regretted my decision as they all pulled out their guns.

“Relájate amigos put away those guns!” I said calmly “I’m just here to meet you wonderful gentlemen for a special meeting your boss arranged with me.”

“Oh, you are the hacker we were supposed to escort. You sounded like a man over the phone.”

“I used a voice scrambler, of course, you idiot. Do you really think that I would reveal any information about me to any potential spies?”

“Good point,” the ‘leader’ said while the others stood behind my back as if I wanted to run from these idiots. They needed me and I wanted what they had, it was that simple.

“What is your name Señorita?” He continued while his buddies were still behind me, motionless.

“Azúcar,” I replied confidently. I took this alias since these were dangerous criminals and I suspected these three were also on multiple wanted lists so, they were not exactly friendly people.

“ok Azúcar, if that is your real name. You are coming with us to our, very impatient, boss. You and him are going to have a little chat on OUR terms.”

Suddenly one of his buddies pulled something that looked like a sack over my head while the other one bound my hands and feet. After I was completely immobile they threw me in the back of what I thought was a van and they drove _wildly_ through the city. Because they didn’t search me I was able to enable the GPS tracker I had on me, I hoped it did work, unlike last time I needed it to record a location.

After much bruising in the back of this van, it suddenly came to an abrupt stop, making me hit my head on the divider wall of the cabin.

“Alright _sweet_ heart, we have arrived at our destination.” One of the men said with an emphasis on sweet.

They pulled me out of the van just after I managed to hide the GPS tracker in a pouch of my suit, specially designed to remain hidden even during a pat-down. I was going to need this information as my insurance policy in case of shit hitting the fan.

After they pulled me out of the van, the sack got removed, my feet got unbound and in front of me, I saw a bunker door. They escorted me inside the bunker, what seemed to be an old pre-crisis military base. A perfect hideout for a gang of this size and by just looking at things it seems that they had been in here for a while too.

I was escorted past multiple checkpoints, all guarded by heavily-armed goons, heavy steel doors and a lot of security cameras. If anyone in their right mind would even want to attack this base they would need to bring a LOT of firepower.

“Get in here and sit down.” One of the men that were escorting me said in a stern fashion. “Boss will be here shortly, don’t try anything stupid.”

This change of tone made me kind of worried that these men weren’t as stupid as I thought and in hindsight, I miscalculated these men but I was cocky and I would pay the price.

A few minutes later a really fat and tattooed man walked in flanked by four giant bodyguards. I figured this was Dante, the man who I arranged this meeting with. I pulled his name of their servers.

“You must be Dante del Pozo,” I smirked while I was still with my hands tied. “Nice to meet you but, I expected a bit more of a warmer welcome than being blindfolded, bound and thrown in the back of a van.”

“How do you-“ del Pozo stammered surprised “Nevermind, don’t tell me.” He facepalmed as I smirked once again. I had the winning hand but I was still trapped in a bunker with three metre thick reinforced concrete walls.

“Before we begin,” I said, starting to wiggle my hands. They were starting to get sore, and I wanted to be able to move them freely again. “could you _please_ remove these ropes? I’m locked in here with your gorillas so I’m not going anywhere.”

“I think I’ll keep you bound for now so you don’t try any tricks, you have made a bit of a name for yourself, _Azúcar_.” Del Pozo growled as he sat his fat ass down on an unsuspecting chair which creaked under the immense strain of all that mass.

“You have been doing your research,” I complimented with a hint of sarcasm. I hadn’t really been hiding my alias, but that had been intentional so these … _professionals_ … could find me more easily. “So, you wanted to talk to me. Well, here I am. What can Azúcar do for you?”

Del Pozo said leaning back, giving that poor chair a hard time again.

“One word: Information, and a lot of it too,” I said as I readjusted myself. “I have access to thousands of databases, these include the law enforcement, taxation and I even have access to the public power grid.”

“That is a very intriguing set of privileges you got yourself there. Consider me interested.

“That is excellent but I’d like to know what Los Muertos can offer me. I do not work for free and I do not intend to join your ranks officially. Being affiliated with a gang, or as you would call it ‘Underworld enterprise’, does not interest me and will not fit my goals.”

“I want a ten percent cut of every operation I will be involved in, and for a hundred thousand Pesos I am willing to upgrade and maintain your cybersecurity.”

Del Pozo only laughed shortly and said: “Two percent and twenty five K”

“Nine percent and eighty five K” I responded immediately.

We went back and forth until we finally reached an agreement “six percent and fifty K. Final offer.”

Del Pozo scratched his chin before slammed his fat hand on the table, shouting “DEAL!”

I leaned back again, realizing I had gotten what I wanted and that these guys were easily manipulated.

“Well then, I think we are done here. Juan will lead you through everything to get you set up.” Del Pozo said as he gestured Juan to free me. “Any other requests?”

“Gracias amigo,” I said as my hands were freed. “I want full admin credentials to your server and where you want me to start.”

“Juan will show you where you can get access to our servers and get to work.” He said as he apparently struggled to turn around in that narrow doorway. “We will contact you when we need something.”

The man who was apparently called Juan showed me the servers and gave me a login code. While I logged in he kept a close eye on me to make sure I didn’t do anything they did not like.

I looked around the server and I noticed they didn’t give me full credentials like I demanded. When Juan picked his nose and looked away in the process I attached a password snooper to the keyboard so I could get the credentials I needed and hid it well so they wouldn’t find it. I managed to set up remote access with the credentials they gave me so I didn’t have to return to this place for a long while.

“Are you done?” Juan asked impatiently. “I need you to leave the server room now.”

“Yup, all done!” I said while logging off after erasing my traces on the server, but I left in a back door just in case. “Let’s go!”

Juan escorted me to the outside of the bunker and then, as I expected, another bumpy blindfolded ride in that busted van of theirs. After a short ride, Juan threw me out of the van and freed my hands and feet.

“Let’s hope the remote access you set up works pendejo.” I hissed while I rubbed the painful spot on my head. “Because you are an awful driver.”

Juan said nothing but an annoyed grunt and left me alone in the same alley I started this whole ordeal, hitting garbage cans and benches in the process.

“He’s not only a bad driver but also and asshole.” I huffed to myself as I pulled up my cloak and headed into the dark rainy night. As I walked through the tight back alleys of Dorado I almost stepped on a cat, which ran away with a loud yowl. Passing along some deep puddles, I thanked the modern man to do away with wheels because I would be soaked multiple times by now if the cars which were passing me had wheels. As I arrived at Rolando's house the rain had stopped and a bright full moon was high in the sky.

It’s been two years now  since I've had to leave the orphanage and moved in with my friend Rolando. His health has  been deteriorating and I had been helping more and more around the house. I opened the door and saw him as usual behind his computer doing whatever he did  these days.

“Evening, I’m home!” I called to him as I closed the door. “What’s news this rainy evening?”

“The same as usual, but other than that, nothing much.” Rolando sighed as he wheeled over.

“Have you taken your medication?” I asked him, worry coating my voice. He sometimes forgot  to take his pain meds.

“I indeed have this time!” He replied proudly, but as he looked at me I saw his face change with worry. “Olivia, what happened at that meeting with Los Muertos? Were you beaten up or something? You are covered in bruises.”

“Nah. One of my escorts was a bad driver,” I shrugged “besides, it’s hard to keep yourself steady when you’re thrown into a van blindfolded and bound.”

“That’s what you get when you want to deal with the devil.” Rolando sighed while cleaning his glasses. “I told you my opinions on this matter but you’re twenty years old now, you make your own decisions and I hope this does not backfire on you.”

“Don’t worry, I got all kinds of failsafes installed,” I said, self-assured  “They won't find us here.” Rolando just huffed and moved back to his computer. After hanging up my cloak and taking off my shoes I went to take a shower and then to bed. I was bruised, battered, and most of all exhausted.

For the following months I continued my research using more and more of Los Muertos’ resources and becoming increasingly emboldened and I felt untouchable. Of course, I helped Los Muertos with their practices. Hacking in the prison system to help break out members, reprogramming networked robots to suit their needs, (not Omnics though, since they were near sentient and they )

Everything went according to plan until that fateful day. Rolando was out so I had the place to myself, just hacking my way into some suspicious server activity when all of a sudden all my screens lit up bright red while displaying some strange kind of eye. As I was recovering from the scare a group of armed men burst down the door and held me at gunpoint while one of them taped me to the chair.

“Hello Olivia Colomar…” a raspy voice said. “How nice of you to lead us to your home. You shouldn’t have.”

“HMMMPH!” I tried to curse but the cloth in my mouth made it impossible. Due to the flashlights they were shining in my face I could not see who it was, but the shape was more than enough. Los Muertos has found my home address. I tried to make sure if it was really him but I got knocked unconscious before I could see anything clearly.

Next time I woke up I saw that I was in a damp cell and the only things I could see were the blurriness of my vision and the concrete walls. The security guard at the end of the hallway noticed me as my surroundings came back into focus. He said something over his radio and my gut told me that things were about to get A LOT worse.

After what seemed a few minutes a couple of goons walked up to my cell and opened the door.

“YOU! OUT!” They shouted. “COME WITH US. NOW!” One of the men yelled as they pulled me off my spot on the ground. “We are going to have a little chat.”

They lead me through a series of tight corridors towards a series of steel doors where I could hear screaming coming from behind those doors. The men opened one of the doors and what I saw there made me scream louder than I ever thought I could.

“ROLANDO!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!!” I screamed as I saw my best friend lying on a torture table in the middle of the room, surrounded by tools and blood pooling on the floor.

“The coward is dead!”  One of the men said proudly. “It didn’t take long for your ‘friend’ to give away your location, and you can see what happens if someone is no longer useful to us."

I tried to beg for mercy but the men just laughed at me as they strapped me on the table. However, before they could do anything to

“Pedro! Keep an eye on this one, I am going to take a look at what the fuck is going on up there!” One of the men said, obviously agitated while the other stayed behind but didn’t do anything. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the idiot who set off the alarm, probably by accident.

After a few seconds of waiting, the man returned with panic in his eyes and commanded the other to come with him.

“Pedro! Come with me NOW! We’re being attacked by someone, they’ve already taken out Guillermo!

“How will they ever breach the main door. It is one of the toughest doors in all of Mexi-“ Pedro said, but a massive explosion made the whole bunker tremble on its foundations. “-co. That might be how.” Pedro corrected himself as both him and the other man grabbed their weapons to, what I assumed, assist in the defence of the bunker.

While I laid there on the steel table I heard all kinds of gunshots and two sounds I could not identify. They sounded familiar but I couldn’t immediately place where I had heard it before.

As the gunshots came closer and closer to my position I could hear a foreign language coming through all the Spanish. I couldn’t place the language properly but it sounded like a different version of German.

“ _Godverredomme! Er zijn hier martelkamers!_ _[2]_ ” A distant voice yelled. The footsteps came closer and closer and somehow they managed to breach the steel doors.

“OVER HERE!!” I screamed, desperately struggling with the chains that kept me to the table. “I’M STILL ALIVE!!”

The footsteps came rushing to me and soon I saw in the doorway two tall men. One of the men came rushing towards me and said something in their foreign language but he soon switched to Spanish. I _begged_ them to free me because I was scared shitless.

“Are you ok?” He said, still sounding worried with his horrible accent. The slight wrinkles on his face and greying hair just gave off a trustworthy aura, and as soon as he freed me I jumped into his arms and started sobbing into his shirt. He put his arms around me and we just sat there on the floor. After a while I managed to collect myself and I looked at my rescuer and at his partner, who was standing watch for any attackers.

“You are safe now, they cannot hurt you anymore.” He said in a comforting tone, I just felt like I could trust this man not to hurt me.

“How is she looking?” The other man asked in much better Spanish “We good to move out?”

“Yes, let's blow this joint!”

The man stood up and picked me up in the process.

“Do you have any family or friends you can stay at?”

The way he asked his question made me realize that the only friend I'd ever made was lying dead back in that chamber, and that hit me like a freight train. I was too emotional to speak so I just shook my head.

“What is your name?”

“Olivia.” I whimpered.

“Ok then, let’s take you with us until we figure out who you are and how you ended up here…”

The two men took me with them to the exit of the bunker and as we passed along numerous corridors I saw a lot of dead gang members , even piles of ashes. I was just glad these two were on, what appeared to be, my side. The other man quickly ran into an office and pulled out a bound and gagged del Pozo, dragging him along. Seeing him so pathetic would have made me feel better any other day, but I was still trying to cope with all the implications of today’s events hitting me in waves. Nothing would be the same again.

\-------------

Suddenly Olivia stops talking. She just put her head in her hands and Angela can hear soft sobbing. She put her hand on Olivia as a comforting gesture; telling this story has obviously opened old wounds. Not even Fareeha, who is sitting quietly at the head of the table, says a word.

Marieke walks into the living room with a platter of drinks, puts them on the table and silently leaves back to her activities, leaving the three on their own again with Bouke in the back.

After a short while Olivia wipes her eyes, not even caring about smudging her makeup, and takes a sip from her tea. She inhales deeply and exhales slowly to calm her nerves.

“So, now you two know how I ended up knowing this sentimental old fool,” Olivia says pointing with her head towards Bouke in his recliner, while straightening herself. She shoots Fareeha a glance, worried that the Egyptian might refuse to believe her, given her own reputation.

She expects wariness but instead sees empathy and worry. she knows the woman isn’t really for showing her emotions but she can see it in the eyes of the stoic soldier. The famous Swiss doctor is still next to her and shows more emotion, her body radiating sympathy.

 “It seems like you have been keeping this a secret for a long time, Olivia,” Angela says with a soft voice. “Thank you for sharing this with us.”

“I have a question, Olivia” Fareeha starts with confusion as Olivia gives Angela a hug. “How did Bouke know you were in the bunker?”

“I didn’t,” Bouke says, getting up from his comfortable position in his recliner. He grabs a chair and joins the women while lighting a cigar, pointedly ignoring Angela’s annoyed looks. He takes long puff and starts telling his story.

“It all started when my brother called me for help for a mission he had in Mexico. He had been contacted by the local government in Dorado to help in neutralizing a criminal network.” He says as he leans forward to put his large hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “For this we need to go back nine years, when my hair still had some colour.”

\-------

“Bouke, my friend, I need your help,” My brother said as he walked into my house. “I got this mission to clear out a Mexican criminal hideout but I need your expertise to get it done.”

“You need my weapons since your boss is refusing you his weapons for your own private missions.”

“Woah!” my brother hushed. “Not this time! My commanding officer just didn’t want any leads to his division and I was hoping you could ask your shadowy friends at Overwatch to give me some intel for the best approach.”

“Ugh. You do know those guys don’t really exist.”

“You know just as well how that edgy Japanese guy your daughter managed to stabilise is in that club.”

“Fine, have it your way.” I gave in because arguing with my brother never worked. He was too stubborn for that. “When do you want to depart?”

“Next week. I heard there will be an important figurehead of that gang there.”

“I’ll call Gabe and ask if he can get that information confirmed, but this is not going to be an Overwatch mission. Is that clear? We already have enough to worry about.”

“Copy that.” He said as he walked towards the armoury. I tried to stop him but he did not want to, hear me.

“Hey! You know you can't open my armoury right!?” I hissed before my brother arrived at the lift.

“I know but you can.” My brother grins. “I just wanted to see my P180 again!”

“No, you will get it after we arrive in Mexico.”

“OH COME ON!” He exclaimed annoyance. “Not even one minute?!”

I shook my head and gestured to him to go back to the house. He opened his mouth to protest but I gave him a stern look. We both walked back to the house and my girlfriend just finished shopping for groceries so we could prepare dinner. I invited my brother over for dinner which he gladly accepted.

The following week, my brother and I would use the intel which I got from Blackwatch and what my brother could gather, to form a plan to assault the base.

“Alright, then it's settled.” My brother said after we added the last notes to the holographic map.

“We depart tomorrow at dawn from Schiphol[3]. My boss chartered a private jet through back channels, we go through the plan one more time during the flight.”

After we finished our beers we both retired for the evening. I joined my girlfriend in bed while my brother stayed in the newly built guest room.

The following day my brother and I were at the airport at the crack of dawn, the incoming clouds indicated it would be a dreary day.

“Alright dude, are you ready?” My b rother said as he slapped his hand on my shoulder, making me almost drop the case of my weapon on my toes.

“I am ready. Are you?” I growled as I pushed the case into my brother’s arms. “Can you carry this to the plane so I can do the final checks with Marwin? He’ll be our pilot for the mission.”

“Yeah, got it.” He grunted as he struggled to lift the heavy case of my Gattling laser while I went to get the case with fusion cores and fusion cells. “What is in this thing?!”

“You’ll see when we arrive. Besides, it’s easier to get my fusion tech through security than bullets.” I chuckled.

“Yeah, because transporting experimental fusion reactors by aeroplane is so much safer.” Marwin retorted from the plane. “You two hurry up. Our departure window is closing.”

“Roger that, captain.” I chuckled as I pulled the last case from the car before entering the plane.

As soon as I entered the plane we closed the door and rolled over to the runway, performing the pre-flight checks.

The flight to Mexico City wasn’t really eventful. My brother did some reading while he and Marwin switched piloting the plane although my AI did most of the work. After a quiet flight we landed at Benito Juárez[4] and loaded everything into an armoured car to drive to Dorado. It was quite the drive but we couldn’t use a helicopter unless we wanted everyone to know we were coming..

“How much farther to go, navigator?” I said mockingly while driving through Dorado.

“Turn left here to this hill behind the _ziggurat_ ”

“Can you remind me what a ‘ziggurat’ is again? I forgot.” I asked confusedly.

“A ziggurat is what LumériCo calls their pyramid-shaped power plants. Although the term is native to Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, not Mexico.”

We turned into a narrow alley which seemed to be a dead end. I hopped out to inspect the wall but I noticed a few pipes running through the wall next to it. I saw a narrow gap between the wall and the road indicating a moving wall.

“Good thing this car has a winch.” I chuckled as I addressed my brother. “Yo dude, see those pipes?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“This wall moves. Let's see what happens when we rip out those pipes.” I pointed to a few fragile pipes sticking out of the wall while wiggling my eyebrows. The grin appearing on my brother’s face gave me all the acknowledgement I needed.

I climbed up a few crates, silently grumbling about the joint pains that had set in a few years ago. I hooked the steel cable to the pipes and told my brother to put it in reverse. These pipes were so rusty they snapped at the slightest strain on the cable. “There we go!” I cheered as the wall sank down into the ground with a thud. “We can proceed.”

“Let's hope these guys are as stupid in their bunker as they are here…” My brother frowned concernedly.

“Hey, you wanted to go in guns blazing.” I shrugged as I jumped down. “So let's go in _guns blazing_. But we need to keep the element of surprise until we arrive at the bunker.”

“Good point.” My brother said as I got back in the car. “Let's move on then.”

I got in the car and my brother turned off the lights so we could drive up the path unnoticed until the last corner, where he turned the lights back on so not to raise suspicion. Thanks to the suits we were wearing I could pose as a “business partner” of that bozo we were capturing. To finish the picture I was sitting in the back while “reading” a newspaper on my tablet.

As we drove up to the bunker we were stopped by an armed guard.

“Name and occasion?” He asked shortly in Spanish.

“Brink. My boss here has an appointment with del Pozo.” My brother said in fluent Spanish, following the script we made up on the plane. As soon as my brother finished, the guard moved to my window and ordered me to lower it. I gave my brother a look to let him know what I was planning and he nodded in acknowledgement. I picked up the silenced gun brought with us and lowered the window.

“You are going to go down on your knees. Now!” I commanded in my accented Spanish as I aimed the gun at the guard’s head. He obeyed, got down on his knees and kicked away his rifle, but as I got out the car to cuff him my brother shot him with his own gun.

“DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK!” I yelled with blood on my face. “Why did you shoot an unarmed man?!”

“He was reaching for his sidearm,” My brother explained as he lit a cigarette. “You need to work on your perception more. It almost killed you. Again.”

“Yeah, good point,” I said as I lit a cigar when suddenly a voice called over the radio the guard had been carrying.

 _“_ _Guillermo, come in.”_ The voice said, seemingly worried. “ _What happened out there? We heard gunshots.”_

“Fuuuuck!” I stammered while grabbing the radio. “ _Everything ok here! Slight weapons malfunction. Nothing to be worried about.”_ I said in Spanish

“HEY! You aren’t Guillermo! Who are you?” The voice said surprised and suddenly alarms sounded from the base.

"I am your worst nightmare and you are going to join Guillermo soon enough," I said with a deep, menacing voice.

“You IDIOT!” My brother exclaimed. “Don’t you remember that you have a horrible Dutch accent?”

“I forgot!” I facepalmed as I moved to the back of the car. “Now what?”

“Um, well… Let's see what we encounter inside, but be prepared for a lot of blood and ash.” My brother chuckled as he took a drag of his cigarette and put on his sunglasses.

“You know,” I said while opening the boot of the car. “We both look like those 1980’s action heroes.”

“Damn, you are right.” My brother said as he was seemingly looking into a mirror. “And what is your point?”

“Well, sneaking in and nabbing del Pozo covertly isn’t happening, so I brought an old friend with me.” I chuckled as I took a drag on my cigar. I threw my brother his P180 and I lifted my Gattling laser out of its case.

“Ah right, Bertus is with us today! It has been what? Twenty years, since you used Bertus?” My brother tried to remember the liberation of Amsterdam.

“Yup, he’s loaded with a fresh fusion core and your P180 has new cells so we can get del Pozo to face the music back home.”

“Ok, let’s mess them up! Maybe we find some other prisoners down there…” My brother inspected his weapon and adjusted his earpiece.

We walked towards the massive steel door which, with the bunker on high alert, had been sealed shut. When I saw no obvious mechanism to open it from our side I turned to my brother, who was already preparing an explosive charge to blow open the door.

“Ok, this is going to give one hell of a bang so take cover and cover your ears! My brother said as he started the timer. After thirty seconds of dead silence besides the beeping of the timer a massive explosion blew off the locking mechanism and bent the door inwards enough that we could slip through.

“Whatever would you do without your favourite brother?” He asked in a mocking fashion.

“You’re my _ONLY_ brother, you dickwad,” I growled as I moved in and started firing towards the men who were already shooting at the door. My brother joined me and killed the last stragglers before we moved on to the next door which I could just kick in since it was made of thin wood.

As we made our way through the main corridor we were shot at from all sides but Bertus had no issues dispatching the defenders as some even turned to piles of ash. My brother used his weapon to take care of the more distant characters.

As we were closing in on del Pozo’s office I saw movement at the edge of my vision; I grabbed my plasma sidearm and turned around, levelling it at the gang member who had aimed a gun at my brother.

“Bad idea motherfucker!” I said as I pulled the trigger. “NO ONE shoots my brother! Only I can do that!” I spat at the smouldering puddle of green goo at my feet.

We reached del Pozo’s office and found the asshole cowering behind his desk.

We pulled him out, and tied him to his chair for safe keeping, locked his door and moved on towards the deeper end of the base, encountering little to no resistance since everyone had fled or been turned into ash.

We walked towards a dark corridor and the steel doors gave me an uncomfortable feeling that this was the darker area of the bunker. I opened one of the doors and what I saw there almost made me retch.

“ _Godverredomme! Er zijn hier martelkamers!_ ” I cursed as I ran back to my brother. “We gotta check these out and see if there are others still alive. This one is empty but there may be others who are still being tortured!”

I ran down the corridor kicking in the other doors. All the ones I encountered were empty until I heard screaming from the one in the back.

“There is one still alive! At the end of the hallway!” I yelled to my brother who just joined me in the doorway. We both saw tied down on a table, a young woman who was scared shitless and begging us to free her.

I freed the woman and calmed her down but I switched to Spanish for ease of communication since this woman was obviously very distressed and in panic.

“Calm down,” I said soothing the scared woman “You are safe now, they cannot hurt you anymore”.

My brother asked me how she was doing before I picked her up in a bridal carry. I asked her a couple of questions, but the only thing she answered was her name.

We moved back through the corridor towards del Pozo who was still tied to his chair, and after we pulled him towards us I noticed Olivia was catatonic. I could see the anger in del Pozo’s eyes and that made me grin from ear to ear.

We left the bunker and contacted our liaison to tell them that the base had been cleared and del Pozo captured. After they terminated the call we drove to the airport where Marwin was waiting for us, and departed back to Amsterdam where our _special_ cargo would be picked up by the appropriate parties.

\-------

“And that is how we got to know Olivia ‘Sombra’ Colomar!” Bouke finishes the story while stretching. “After a while she returned to Dorado where we set her up with an apartment.”

“I now understand but I still have trouble with being this close to a Talon agent,” Fareeha growls slightly.

“Well, get used to it, Captain Amari.” Marieke chuckles in the archway to the kitchen. “She drops by often.”

“Hmm,” Fareeha grumbled, still with a small trace of suspicion on her face. Angela quickly stepped in to assure Olivia that her girlfriend will not hurt her.

“Anyway. I am starving and my wife just told us that dinner is ready. Let’s go!” Bouke chipped in to break the grown tension.

After dinner, everyone deposits themselves on the comfortable couches in Bouke’s living room. As the evening progressed, filled with stupid game shows and other low-threshold TV entertainment. While the sun sets through the tall windows both Bouke and Fareeha have fallen asleep for a nap in their recliners until Mìmir interrupted their slumber.

“Not to wake sir up, but Charlotte is at the door ma’am,” Mìmir says with a soft hushed voice.

“Ok, I’ll get her,” Marieke says as she gets up. The white-haired woman walks to her husband and gives him a slap. “Get up you lazy bum, we have a guest!” She says, playful despite her age.

Bouke splutters as he struggles to get up from his recliner.

“Who? What? Where?” The confused man stammers, inadvertently waking up the sleeping Egyptian next to him.

“Charlotte is at the door, be a dear and prepare some tea.” Marieke coos as she gives her husband a kiss on his hairy cheek.

“Chamomile was her tea right?” Bouke asks while he rubs his eyes and before he even reaches the kitchen an enormous yawn emits from his position.

“BOUKE!” Marieke scolds from the end of the hallway. “Not so loud! I can hear you here!”

“Dr Brink!” A smaller feminine voice exclaims “I thought you cut down on your naps?”

After a short wait, Marieke shows up with a small woman in her mid-forties with reddish hair and a slightly nervous smile.

“AH! Charlotte!” The scientist bellows. “How nice of you to visit! We were just watching TV with our guests.” Bouke guides the women to his living room. “I’d like you to meet my guests. You already know Olivia. This is my foster daughter, Dr Angela Ziegler and her girlfriend, Captain Fareeha Amari.” “Good evening!” Charlotte waves with a friendly smile “Nice to meet you all!”

“So, Charlotte? What can we do for you this fine evening.” Bouke asks while depositing himself back in his recliner.

“Well, I’d like to take a look at that reactor you have here if that’s ok?” Charlotte starts hesitantly. “I’m working on this new futuristic game and they tasked me to get one of the industrial locations set up with concept art.”

“You do know that reactor is still very experimental,” Marieke warns from her spot on the sofa.

“I know, I know,” Charlotte assures the pair. “If its ok I want to drop by tomorrow to just sit there and get inspired.”

“Bob and I will be doing some maintenance to the reactor tomorrow anyway, so feel free to come by,” Bouke says as he takes a drag from his cigar but accidentally inhales and starts a coughing fit.

“Danke schön, I much appreciate this Dr. Brink!” Charlotte says to the still coughing scientist. “I have another question,”

“How can I help you, my friend?” Bouke wheezes as he recovers. “what is the question?”

Charlotte suddenly turns her attention to the women on the couch. “Are you THE Dr Angela Ziegler and THE captain Fareeha Amari?”

“Yes, we are,” Fareeha answers, slightly confused. “What about us?”

“I love that article you have published, the one called “The Man or the Mission,” Charlotte says as she gathers confidence. “And you, Dr. Ziegler. The detailed journal entry you wrote on battle scars and wounds helped me make more realistic wounds for games!”

“That is nice to hear. Although I do not agree with its use, I am happy that my work helped you.” Angela claps. “But you can call me Angela.

“I had another question..” Charlotte stammers. “Can I take a picture with you?”

“Of course!” Angela quips as Charlotte hands her phone to Marieke who already got up

The three women gather around to take a picture or two, and while one of the pictures is being printed Angela and Fareeha sign their respective articles and of course the picture they took which Charlotte gladly accepts, making her all giddy and bouncing on her feet.

After the short meet and greet they bid Charlotte goodbye and continue their evening activity until Angela and Fareeha call it a night, leaving Bouke and Marieke alone with Frank. Bouke has already fallen asleep and was snoring softly, at least by _his_ standards. Outside the Belgian woman sees that same white snow owl ruffling its feathers. She gives the bird a wave and a smile before it flies off again. Marieke follows the bird for a while and then wakes her husband to join her in bed.

As the last light in the base dims everything is calm. In the distance, the full moon rises, and the mysterious owl watches the base from the large oak tree in the front garden.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck adverbs
> 
> 1\. Sombra's alias in her [ARG](https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Sombra/ARG)  
> 2\. Translation: God fucking dammit! There are torture chambers here!  
> 3\. [Schiphol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Airport_Schiphol). The main airport of the Netherlands and near to Amsterdam  
> 4\. [Benito Juárez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City_International_Airport) Mexico City International airport.


	7. OOC: NOTICE

Hey guys,

 

Cable here!

I was planning to release a chapter today (30-jun-2018) but it didnt really work for a few reasons and now I need to do some extensive rewriting and the chapter will take a little while longer.

I hope you understand and I am grateful for your patience.

If you have any questions just post them in the comments below or contact me via Discord TheCableGuy#1339

 

This part will be deleted after the release of the next chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I ever wrote. It is my first full blown writing project of my life. So tell me what you think!
> 
> Love, Cable
> 
> If you have ideas, suggestions, concerns, or just want to chat you can add me on discord, Reddit or even Tumblr under the following names:  
> Discord: TheCableGuy#1339  
> Reddit: /u/thecableguy_  
> Tumblr: Cable-Writes.tumblr.com (still empty and brand new.)


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